(Photo: Rebecca Fondren, courtesy of Cherry)
Tonight Jonathan Morr of BONDST will bring a Brooklyn outpost of his other sushi den, Cherry, to Williamsburg. That may cause some to worry about the upscaling of the neighborhood’s dining scene (a cherry that was already popped by The Elm). After all, Cherry’s meatpacking-esque location in the Dream Hotel looks like a place where the girls from Sex and the City would get a drink, not the girls from Girls.
(Photo: Rebecca Fondren, courtesy of Cherry)
As if to assuage those fears, Morr and his partner Eugene Morimoto dispensed with the brothel-red, “ultralounge” décor of the Chelsea location and got hOme — the buzzy design team behind handsome Greenpoint spots Alameda, Tørst, Ramona and Paulie Gee’s — to give this Cherry spin-off a neighborhood-appropriate rustic feel. The space is outfitted with arched ceilings made from reclaimed wood, banquettes made from the same, a 5-seat sushi bar, vintage pachinko machines, and a mural in the ukiyo-e tradition by Brooklyn artist Lukas Geronimas.
Photo: Rebecca Fondren, courtesy of Cherry.
Like the Chelsea location, there’s sushi (the omakase menu starts at $36), but as the name Cherry Izakaya implies, the focus here is on grilled skewers, dumplings (stuffed with everything from pulled pork to foie gras and short rib), and small and large plates intended for sharing. Think shrimp tacos and shrimp croquettes, stuffed calamari and stuffed shishito peppers, sizzling steak and whole fried fish.
(Photo: Rebecca Fondren, courtesy of Cherry)
The cocktails feature exotic ingredients like Szechuan peppercorn leaf, candied fennel chip, and chipotle shizo. There are a couple of “infusions” (shitake cognac, anyone?) as well as a list of drinks that combine housemade sodas with shochu.
Go ahead and have a look at the menus.
Cherry Izakaya, 138 N. 8th St., between Bedford Ave. and Berry St., in Williamsburg; 347-889-6300. Open Sundays from 5:30-11:30pm, Mondays through Wednesdays from 5:30pm-12:00am, and Thursday-Saturday from 5:30pm-2:00am. Delivery and brunch starts in a month, with brunch being served from 11:00am-3:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays.