Ivan Ramen
Company typeFranchise
IndustryRestaurant
Founded2010; 14 years ago (2010)
HeadquartersNew York City
Key people
Ivan Orkin
ProductsRamen

Ivan Ramen is a ramen restaurant in New York City (25 Clinton Street, Lower East Side) which is run by chef Ivan Orkin.[1]

History

Owner Ivan Orkin was born in Syosset, New York, and moved to Japan in the 1980s to teach English after graduating from college.[2] In 1990, he returned to the United States with his Japanese wife, Tami, and attended the Culinary Institute of America from 1991 to 1993.[2] He subsequently worked as a chef in New York at the Mesa Grill and Lutèce.[2][3] His wife Tami died in 1998, and Orkin met his second wife, Mari, on a subsequent trip to Japan; they moved to Japan together in 2003.[3]

The original Ivan Ramen Ramen shop in Setagaya, Tokyo, opened in June 2006.[2] The 10-seat restaurant received early positive reviews and press attention.[2][3] In 2010, a second location with 16 seats, Ivan Ramen Plus, opened nearby.[4] After moving back to the United States, Ivan Orkin announced the closure of Ivan Ramen in Tokyo in November 2015, handing over the shop to his long time chef and manager, Hisao Matsumoto.[5]

Orkin moved to New York in 2011, opening Ivan Ramen restaurants in Hell's Kitchen and the Lower East Side in 2013.[6][7] He closed the outlet in Hell's Kitchen in November 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]

Media

Ivan Ramen was featured on an episode of the NHK series Begin Japanology in 2009. A book about the restaurant, Ivan Ramen: Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo's Most Unlikely Noodle Joint, was published in 2013.[9][10] Ivan Ramen was featured on an episode of the Netflix series Chef's Table in 2017.[11] Ivan Ramen was featured in Season 3 Episode 10 of Billions [12]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gould, Kenny (October 15, 2019). "How Ivan Ramen Nails Beer, Noodles And Hospitality". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Nagata, Kazuaki (7 February 2008). "Japanese slurping up U.S. chef's ramen". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Hayashi, Yuka (29 September 2007). "Trying to Out-Noodle the Japanese". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 22 June 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  4. ^ Tor, Ching-Li (November 10, 2010). "Tales from a Tokyo ramen chef: Ivan Orkin". CNN. Archived from the original on April 30, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  5. ^ "ramenjunkie". Instagram. November 11, 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26.
  6. ^ Gross, Max (October 30, 2013). "Meet the Jewish king of ramen". New York Post. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  7. ^ Brehaut, Laura (April 16, 2020). "In The Gaijin Cookbook, Ivan Orkin embraces his outsider status". National Post. Archived from the original on August 25, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  8. ^ Fortney, Luke (February 11, 2021). "Ramen Master Ivan Orkin Closes His Original Hell's Kitchen Slurp Shop". Eater. New York. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  9. ^ Orkin, Ivan (2013). Ivan Ramen: Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo's Most Unlikely Noodle Joint. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 9781607744467. OCLC 852399997. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  10. ^ Kasper, Lynne Rossetto (April 4, 2014). "The art of the slurp (or, How to eat ramen)". The Splendid Table. Archived from the original on October 14, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  11. ^ Kludt, Amanda (February 17, 2017). "'Chef's Table' Recap: Ivan Orkin". Eater. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  12. ^ imdb (May 27, 2018). "'Billions Redemption (TV Episode)'". IMDb. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

External links

40°43′14″N 73°59′04″W / 40.72055°N 73.98454°W / 40.72055; -73.98454

Restaurants in the City of New York
Lower East Side
Categories