
"Planned to open at 224 Broadway E later this year, Rondo will serve bento, noodles, donburi, sake, and cocktails — including some made by a Suntory Toki highball machine — and will feature a charcoal grill turning out small snacks on weekend nights. Owner Makoto Kimoto, who runs the Japanese pubs Tamari Bar and Suika on Pine Street, says the Toki contraption delivers a more refined carbonation to whiskey-and-soda drinks (Tamari Bar already has one). The restaurant's name is inspired by a tale of a young fisherman visiting an underwater dragon palace, so I expect that mythic angle to appear in dragon-like dry ice and smoky cocktails; Kimoto says he aims to surprise customers not only with food and drinks but also with service and atmosphere." - Gabe Guarente