The first restaurant I stepped into as a cook

Ramen Setagaya

I spent over a year in this kitchen.  This is where it all started.  I miss it a lot and on a rainy day, I would go in for a bowl of shio ramen, cha shyu zara and a cold sapporo.  Hits the spot and brings back many memories.  It's not what it used to be.  The place changed, the owner changed.  Year 2007 was when this restaurant was at it's peak.  We won New York Magazine's Best Ramen award in NYC that year.  The original Setagaya spot was on 1st avenue between 8th and 9th street.  We would play rock, paper and scissors to see who buys coffee across from the corner deli owned by Korean man who was pissed off all the time.  I would sneak downstairs with the cooks and chug beers leftover from the New Years party we had.  We were so busy that year.  Customers were lining up around the block! I remember the ticket number 301.  That's probably 600 customers we served in one night in a 25 seat restaurant.  Best night ever, I felt like the ramen king, no seriously.