"The restaurant and its waffles live on ... in Tokyo. So, somehow, does Cafe Gitane, the 30-year-old institution for Nolita scenesters that's on life support in its hometown. There's just one Gitane in Tokyo, but City Bakery serves its famous hot chocolate and pretzel croissants at dozens of locations in Japan."
"The fantasy of "somewhere else" will always be a strong marketing tactic. Tokyoites go to Buttermilk Channel to feel like they're in New York the same way Brooklynites go to Ichiran to feel like they're eating tonkotsu ramen in Japan. But a restaurant doesn't have to be from even one city for the illusion to work."
"This is the case at New York Grill, the low-lit dining room immortalized in Americans' minds as the backdrop to a budding romance in Lost in Translation. When the Park Hyatt Tokyo, where the restaurant is located, closed it for renovations, the goal was to make the restaurant, which has never actually existed in New York, even New Yorkier."
"Walking in now feels a lot like walking into Sofia Coppola's 2003 film: A jazz singer is set against skyscrapers while an even mix of Japanese diners and tourists sip drinks. The restaurant feels contained not only within the film but in the late '90s and early aughts. I rewatched the movie after eating here and found it hard to believe the place had been renovated at all."
Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn closed in late 2024, yet its house-fermented pickles and cheddar waffles continued in Tokyo. Cafe Gitane in Nolita also struggled at home, while its hot chocolate and pretzel croissants were available across many Japanese locations through City Bakery. The appeal of “somewhere else” functions as a marketing tactic, with Tokyo diners seeking a New York feeling similar to how Brooklyn diners seek Japanese ramen at Ichiran. New York Grill at Park Hyatt Tokyo reinforces this illusion, even though it never existed in New York. Renovations aimed to make the restaurant feel even more New York, creating a late-1990s film-like atmosphere with murals and a mix of Japanese diners and tourists.
Read at Grub Street
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