About halfway up the long flight of stairs to the second floor locale of this Japanese eatery, you start to smell it – the aroma of sizzling chicken. And here, none of it goes to waste – gizzard, neck, heart, skin, all lightly dusted with sea salt and skewered, alongside more conventional parts.

Take a seat at the ample, warm-tone wood and red- tile bar where you can watch the grilling from the front row, or in one of the pretty paper and wood partitioned nooks, for asparagus or shiso-wrapped chicken-breast skewers, bowls of shredded yams with sticky rice, and sake-steamed Asari clams.

No Reservations chef Anthony Bourdain says it’s the kind of place that attracts hungry chefs, and chef Alex Raij says it’s the kind of spot she likes to go when she wants someone to have a meal that will remain impressed upon their sense memory. And Terrence Gallivan? Well, nothing makes him happier than when his dining companion whips out a card and says “Go Crazy.”