{"id":161630,"date":"2026-03-12T18:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/161630\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T18:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:50:08","slug":"top-sapporo-ramen-chef-hiroshi-hiraoka-pops-up-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/161630\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Sapporo Ramen Chef Hiroshi Hiraoka Pops Up in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hiroshi Hiraoka, one of the most respected ramen chefs in Japan and the chef-owner behind Sapporo\u2019s Japanese Ramen Noodle Lab Q<\/a>, is heading to New York City this month for a series of limited-time pop-ups at two Manhattan restaurants. The events will bring his refined \u201ctanrei\u201d style ramen, rarely experienced outside Japan, to diners at Towa in Flatiron<\/a> and nonono in NoMad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re more familiar with the rich, porky bowls typical of tonkotsu ramen<\/a>, tanrei is a different beast entirely. The style is defined by a crystal-clear broth and delicate balance of flavor rather than heavy richness. Hiraoka\u2019s version is constructed with premium ingredients like Hokkaido pork bones, jidori chicken and kombu, plus special soy sauces and house-developed noodles.<\/p>\n

First up is an elegant collaboration at Towa, where Hiraoka will join chef Masaya Shirai for a special \u201cramen-kaiseki\u201d tasting menu running March 21\u201322 and March 28\u201329. The multi-course experience will feature two different\u00a0types of Hiraoka\u2019s signature ramen (one warm and one chilled) woven into the progression of dishes. Prices are $125 per person at the sushi counter and $75 in the dining room.<\/p>\n

\"Japanese
\nPhotograph: Courtesy of Japanese Ramen Noodle Lab Q <\/p>\n

The visiting chef\u2019s resume explains the excitement. Hiraoka founded Japanese Ramen Noodle Lab Q in Sapporo in 2014 and it quickly became one of Japan\u2019s most revered ramen destinations.\u00a0His work has earned national recognition, including a win on TV Tokyo\u2019s World Ramen No.1 Championship, a feature on the documentary series\u00a0J\u014dnetsu Tairiku\u00a0and a place on Tabelog\u2019s Top 100 Ramen Restaurants<\/a> list for eight consecutive years.<\/p>\n

After the Towa collaboration wraps up, Hiraoka will continue his New York visit at nonono, Hand Hospitality\u2019s yakitori and ramen izakaya. From March 30 through April 4, guests can order his ramen a la carte during lunch and dinner service.\u00a0The pop-up is also part of a bigger transition for nonono, as Hiraoka is working with the team on a refreshed ramen program that relies on the chicken-based broths. The dishes developed during the collaboration will remain on the menu after the chef returns to Japan.<\/p>\n

Basically, if you miss the pop-up, you\u2019ll still get a taste of what he started\u2014but the chance to try ramen from one of Japan\u2019s most acclaimed masters while he\u2019s actually in the kitchen is a much rarer opportunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hiroshi Hiraoka, one of the most respected ramen chefs in Japan and the chef-owner behind Sapporo\u2019s Japanese Ramen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2590,9,24,55,54,2591,56,821],"class_list":{"0":"post-161630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-categories-restaurants","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","12":"tag-new-york-city-news","13":"tag-news-eating","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-restaurants"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}