Couple behind counter Japanese restaurant Roji to open a ‘neo izakaya’
Tamas Naszai and Tomoko Hasegawa say they will close their 10-seater, intimate counter-style restaurant Roji in Mayfair later this month ‘for now’ to enable them to focus on the launch of Himi, on which they have been working for the past six months.
Pronounced ‘hee-mee’, Himi is described as a ‘neo izakaya’ that is a more casual izakaya based on the couple’s ethos of local produce and sustainability.
Details of the menu and location are yet to be revealed but it will serve the pair’s version of classic drinking den dishes, they say.
Roji launched just off South Molton Street in 2022 in partnership with the Saga Japanese Restaurant Group, which operates Chisou and Sushi Atelier restaurants. It will close later this month in what the pair suggest will be a temporary move while Himi gets up and running.
