Junior’s is launching an invasion of Japan.
The famed Brooklyn diner is opening locations in Tokyo and Osaka this fall, after it started shipping thousands of its signature cheesecakes to Japan in the spring.
The 400-square-foot shops are slated to open in October in two of the nation’s big department stores: Tokyo’s Daimaru and Osaka’s Hankyu.
The Daimaru site will be a New York-style deli with corned beef, pastrami and roast beef sandwiches, while the Hankyu restaurant will also offer comfort food, along with a full bakery featuring all of Junior’s desserts.
“Our plan will be to continue to expand the brand,” said Alan Rosen, Junior’s third-generation owner, who plans to open more shops if all goes well.
The licensing deal between Junior’s and Sakai Foods includes royalties based on sales. With 127 million people in Japan, “the potential is extensive,” Rosen said.
Junior’s is also opening an off-site 2,000-square-foot commissary to handle food production in Japan for these locations and future ones.
Next month, Japanese chefs will visit Brooklyn to train at Junior’s. While the cheesecakes will be made in the US, the toppings, such as fresh fruit, will be added in Japan.
The Japanese chefs will also learn how to smoke and cure meats, and then go back to Japan to produce the smoked meats in the commissary as meats can’t be imported, according to Rosen.
“When people from Japan come here, they have a yen for the smoked meat and pastrami,” Rosen said.
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Felice, the Tuscan restaurant and wine bar, will open next month in Thompson Hotels’ Gild Hall.
The downtown restaurant at 15 Gold St. follows the success of Felice’s two locations on the Upper East Side.
The 40-seat eatery includes a brass bar at the entrance with an additional 20 seats, along with an upstairs wine lounge, La Soffitta, serving more than 100 labels by the bottle and others by the glass, according to owner Jacopo Giustiniani.
Designed by Robert McKinley, the space’s wine motif showcases dramatic chandeliers made from the jugs used to produce the restaurant’s wines.