Homareya—set to take a space right next to Milana’s New York Pizzeria—will be a rarity for Long Beach when it hopefully opens this summer. It will bring truly traditional izakaya from one our local masters, yakatori and sushi chef Yoya Takahashi
The legend behind Homareya is, well, legendary.
There is something deeply compelling about Chef Yoya Takahashi. Charming, loquacious, and genuinely talented in the art of Japanese cuisine, he is widely respected throughout the community. The team behind Tokyo Noir? They wanted him to be their sushi chef but Yoya’s Homareya project had formally began to take over the chef’s priorities. The team behind Midnight Oil? They were initially planning on creating an izakaya space but retracted upon hearing about Homareya.
“Yoya is just someone that is so widely respected,” Midnight Oil owner Leonard Chan said. “The moment I heard he would be opening an izakaya space, I immediately went back to the drawing board and opted for a Chinese apothecary concept instead. There’s just no way we could compete with someone like Yoya’s talent.”
The words aren’t just smoke: The man’s Smok Moc Yakitori popup reflects that very talent. Marinated skewers of beef, chicken oysters, meatballs, and veggies are met with the lovely smoke that emanates from them as they are charred over fire—and it is a part of what one can expect from Homareya.
The story behind Homareya—and what to expect.
For Chef Yoya, the word “home” has multiple meanings, especially when it applies to Japanese interpretation and language.
“Simply put, it means that you can enjoy my space, my kitchen, my home,” Chef Yoya said, who also shares the name of “Homare,” an ancient Japanese name that carries hefty connotations to honor and holding up one’s reputation despite where they are—an appropriate note as ever given Yoya moved here from Kyoto. “Kanji are Chinese characters—and my name is 誉也, and that first kanji character, 誉? This is ‘Homare’ in Japanese.”
You can expect much from the chef at Homareya, which will reflect Japanese drinking and bar food culture via the famed izakaya spaces of the island. His much-loved yakitori will certainly be on the menu. Tartare. Nigiri. A ton of seafood. And witty plays on vegetables.
“My ideal would be to have it completed by the middle of June,” Chef Yoya said.
The importance of bringing traditional Japanese cuisine to Long Beach.
Long Beach’s Asian food scene is heavily interpreted through multiple Asian languages. The majority of our pho? Definitively through a Cambodian lens (like the rightfully loved Pho Hong Phat). The majority of our sushi? Definitively through a Thai lens (like Sushi Mafia and Sushi Studio). And the majority of what little traditional Japanese food we have, outside of sushi? Definitively through a Korean lens (like Te-Buru in Bixby Knolls).
This doesn’t reflect anything necessarily bad or even that word I hate very much—”authenticity.” What it reflects is how Asian immigrants in Long Beach have adapted to what are their patrons’ palates—and with it, has left the majority of properly traditional Japanese cuisine to the Japanese food hub that is Gardena.
In this sense, Homareya is warmly welcomed in two senses. For one, it allows someone of Chef Yoya’s skills to showcase izakaya to Long Beach. And, for another, he is extending his home to Long Beach, indirectly making Homareya ours. And that, food lovers, is nothing short of awesome.
Homareya will be located at 145 E. 4th St.
Editor’s note: This article previously stated Homareya will be located inside the former Mitaki space at 147 E. 4th St.; this was incorrect.
