Torishin, a successful Japanese restaurant on 1st Ave, is the next spot to try opening at the former La Silhouette store on W 53rd St. The place has been awarded a Michelin star for three consecutive years, as well as various other awards, and are very passionate about “yakitori”.
A few months ago Clubhouse BBQ was planning on opening in the space, but ran into strong resistance from the neighbors for planning on using the courtyard space that’s part of the store (so unreasonable). They ended up backing down from using any outdoor space, but eventually faded away… Now Torishin is having a go, and right on cue the NIMBYs “concerned neighbors” have begun their campaign:
As we mentioned during the Clubhouse BBQ saga, while I understand people not wanting excessive noise coming from right outside their window, the courtyard is part of the store’s lease – any tenant there will be paying for it – so it’s a bit unreasonable to expect them not to use it. The buildings across 9th Ave there are above three bars/bar-like restaurants with music playing all through the night and you don’t see campaigns going on from those residents about it, so, not to be dismissive, but if a restaurant with people dining outside is the worst this block has to worry about, they’re doing pretty well…at least that’s one opinion.
Anyway, we’ll see what happens…