Later this month, the chef behind one of Tokyo’s best ramen shops will take over the kitchen for three nights at ToneArm cocktail and listening bar, formerly home to Brush Sushi, in Decatur. It’s a chance for Atlantans to experience ramen from a restaurant difficult to get into, let alone find on a map in Tokyo.
Hosted by restaurant consultant and roving dinner series founder Ted Golden and Japan-based writer and ramen connoisseur Brian MacDuckston, Chef Jun Yajima will offer three courses to include her signature shoyu ramen paired with beer from Creature Comforts Brewing. The dinner also features dessert from Momonoki pastry chef ChangYao Wang. Proceeds from beer and sake sales will benefit Giving Kitchen.
Ramen Queen takes place on Friday, Feb. 23., Saturday, Feb 24., and Sunday, Feb. 25.
The Decatur pop-up gets its name from Yajima’s unofficial title as the “ramen queen of Japan.” She worked at some of the top ramen shops in Tokyo, before opening her restaurant. Yajima’s restaurant Junmugi doesn’t feature a public address but is located near the city’s JR Nishi-Oi Station. Like many of the Tokyo’s Michelin-rated and popular ramen shops, it’s hard to get a seat at Junmugi.
As a woman working alone, Yajima manages cooking and running the restaurant by sticking to reservations for just 30 customers per day. When reservations go live, they’re quickly snatched up. The ramen shop’s location is only revealed when a reservation is secured.
Unlike other ramen shops in Tokyo, however, Yajima takes a different approach to serving the quintessential Japanese dish. She also serves two to three mini courses before and after the ramen. MacDuckston describes Yajima’s ramen as “very clean and refined.”
MacDuckston, who hails from San Fransico and now lives in Japan, met Yajima while doing guided ramen tours of different shops in Tokyo.
“I started a ramen blog, Ramen Adventures, back in 2008. At the time there was almost no information about ramen in English on the internet,” he says. “It was just a fun hobby, but when ramen gained popularity around 2010, my site took off.”
He has since become fluent in Japanese, appeared on numerous Japanese television shows, written a cookbook, and curated pop-ups and ramen tours. Golden, whom many Atlantans know as Foodie Buddha on Instagram, says MacDuckston has become the “gateway to the ramen community for anybody who doesn’t live in Japan.”
For the Decatur pop-up, Yajima is sourcing handmade noodles from Nashville restaurants Fox Den Izakaya and Black Ramen Dynasty. The owners were lucky enough to dine at Yajima’s restaurant when visiting Tokyo in 2022. They’re making custom noodles for Ramen Queen according to Yajima’s exact specifications. The shoyu-style ramen will feature a shrimp wonton and wagyu-based beef broth. Yajima plans to serve a Japanese salad using local vegetables dressed in a sauce she’s preparing at her Tokyo restaurant before traveling to Atlanta. It will be followed by a traditional Japanese rice bowl topped with American wagyu beef from Chatel Farms in Reidsville, Georgia. Both courses are followed by Yajima’s ramen.
“I think this is going to be a unique experience for people. Maybe they’ve even eaten ramen in Tokyo before, but what Jun is offering there is a whole different type of ramen experience,” Golden says. “So we’re bringing it here to Atlanta and I can’t wait for people to experience it.”
Tickets for Ramen Queen go live on Tock Thursday, Feb. 8., and are $75 per person for four courses. Beer and sake are available for purchase, with proceeds benefiting Giving Kitchen.
Friday, Feb. 23, and Saturday, Feb. 24, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, Feb 25, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.