Best Purveyors of Citywide “Irasshaimase!”

Takehiro & Kayo Asazu

For Japanese-born Kayo and Takehiro Asazu, Japanese comfort food not only means home but also an experience best served shared, which is why the couple, who also started the (since-closed) Sushi-a-Go-Go trailer, opened their izakaya-style, aka family-style, restaurant, Komé, in 2011. But the Asazus didn’t stop there. They’ve since opened Daruma Ramen; teamed up with East Side King’s Motoyasu Utsunomiya for Sa-Tén Coffee & Eats; launched Ni-Komé Sushi & Ramen at Fareground; and partnered with former Uchi chef Masazumi Saio for their most recent restaurant, Uroko. The offerings might not always be the most traditional Japanese restaurant food, but with their emphasis on tasty accessible homestyle cooking, sitting down for a meal at an Asazu restaurant just feels like, well, home.