Everyone’s favorite Tokyo-Italian restaurant, Greenwich Grill, will be taken over by “Kawabun [above], an historical Japanese restaurant located in the city of Nagoya,” from March 10 to 23. Let’s go to the press release, which I trimmed a bit:

KAWABUN
Kawabun first opened more than 400 years ago in the city of Nagoya. The ryotei restaurant is currently operated by the 13th generation of owners, and is [also] operated by Plan Do See, Inc. The cuisine and service of the restaurant has inherited the proud history of serving the royal Owari Tokugawa family. As the premier guesthouse of central Japan, this location has been loved by prominent individuals such as Hirofumi Ito and Count Nogi Maresukei. [I wanted to cut that line but I dare not cross the count.]

WHAT IS RYOTEI?
Ryotei are high-end Japanese restaurants, with exquisite omotenashi hospitality and the use of top-quality ingredients. They have a history of being very exclusive (akin to a dining club), with each party dining in a private room, regardless of the party size. Ryotei have had to evolve with the times, but the focus on serving guests high quality food, with grace and attentiveness, remains.

KAWABUN x GREENWICH GRILL
While the concept of ryotei dining will be adapted to work around the temporary location of Greenwich Grill, the essence of it will still be present. Kawabun will be bringing over its chef and staff from Nagoya to help introduce the ryotei service and cuisine served in Japan. A variety of serving dishes will also be sent over from Japan to fully evoke the feeling of eating a traditional Japanese kaiseki-style dinner. In addition, there are plans to have several servers dressed in traditional kimonos to simulate the service one would receive if dining at Kawabun itself.

KAWABUN MENU
Two dinner courses will be offered, starting from around $55 per person. Diners can expect traditional Japanese dishes such as Kyoto-style grilled masu salmon with lotus root, cucumber and ginger; sea bream chazuke (rice with tea poured over it) with sesame seeds, nori, wasabi, and pickled vegetables; and for dessert, a traditional sweet red bean soup with matcha, shiratama (rice flour dumplings similar to mochi) and adzuki beans.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
• Reservations are required and can be made by phone or through greenwichgrill.com.
• The Greenwich Grill dinner menu will not be available during this time.
• Greenwich Grill lunch hours and menu will remain the same.

And now, some photos of Kawabun food. They’re just to give you an idea of what to expect—the chef won’t be able to re-create exactly what is served in Nagoya, due to ingredient limitations and so on.