11/16/2023 0 Comments Katana kitten bar nyc“The first person I met in New York – and I can’t thank him enough because he set me in the right direction – was Paul Franich, who was a vodka brand ambassador at the time. Not knowing exactly what he wanted to do, he enrolled in community college and worked in bars to make a living at the same time. When he turned 26, he made the move permanent. Katana Kitten's signature cocktail, the Hinoki Martiniįrom a young age, Urushido says he was interested in all things USA – he begged his mother to start learning English when he was about six years old – so when one of his cousins moved to the States and invited him to come visit, Urushido began organising regular visits to the Big Apple. “I kept a notepad in my pocket with people’s names so I could remember these things the best I could, because that’s what the star servers and bartenders would do. Once behind the stick, Urushido enjoyed the opportunity to talk to guests and memorise details about their occupations and favourite drink orders. I wanted to go from my busboy jacket to the vest and tie,” he says of the impetus for the switch. Everything looked like it did in the movies, it was very theatrical and popular at the time.”Įventually a bartending position opened at the restaurant, an opportunity that Urushido embraced with gusto. “I had never been to a restaurant at that level of fine dining before. “Random luck,” he says, landed him a food running position at Tableaux, a fine-dining establishment that catered mostly to the rich and famous. He did this for several years before finding a more formal gig that set him on the path towards cocktails. To make ends meet, he served beer in a karaoke bar and navigated the busy city streets delivering pizzas by bicycle. It’s no surprise, then, that Urushido has been voted by the head bartenders on the list of North America’s 50 Best Bars as the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender 2022.įrom growing up in Minowa, a small, rural town in the Nagano prefecture of Japan, to operating one of New York City’s most celebrated cocktail bars in Katana Kitten, Urushido’s journey to world-class bartending started when he was a teenager finishing his last year of high school in Tokyo. As the kind of person who lights up a room by simply walking into it, fellow cocktailians have long held him in regard as a good-natured and charismatic member of New York’s cocktail community. Known for his generous, charming smile, playful attitude and dedication to good hospitality, Masahiro Urushido is often counted as one of the world’s most affable bartenders. Emma Janzen meets the Katana Kitten sensei to explore his journey from a remote Japanese prefecture to the zenith of his continent’s cocktail scene Masahiro Urushido has just been announced as the peer-voted Altos Bartenders’ Bartender 2022, ahead of the inaugural revelation of North America’s 50 Best Bars on 7th June.
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