Dining Guide

Imoto

The Victory Park district is exploding, and chef Kent Rathbun was quick to make the scene. The downstairs dining space is dark, modern, and hip. Upstairs is a late-night lounge attracting millennials and (occasionally) celebrities, who appear as if from nowhere thanks to a secret elevator. We started well with the succulent wagyu short rib pot stickers served in a bamboo steamer and sided with a spicy soy dipping sauce. For an entrée we had the king crab with sriracha butter (the various roasted root chips were perfect for scooping up the rich corn and ginger puree underneath the large pieces of crab—we just wished there had been more of them). Our dieting friend went for the hirame: thin cuts of raw trout divinely covered in a tart yuzu-lemon sauce topped with microgreens and black Hawaiian lava salt. Though the menu focuses on freestyle dishes inspired by East Asian cuisines, there is also a lone curry from India.