Chef Jeff Taibe Opens Bar Bushido Izakaya & Temaki Bar in Norwalk

After months of not-so-patiently waiting, the day is almost here. Tomorrow, Jeff Taibe and Steph Sweeney, co-owners of Taproot, are officially opening the doors to their new restaurant Bar Bushido, a traditional Japanese izakaya. While the restaurant is new, the idea isn’t; Taibe actually has been working on the concept for Bar Bushido for over five years. The name originates from Taproot’s former pop-up series, called “Bushido,” that took place prior to COVID. Taibe introduced the one-Sunday-per-month experience as a way to fuel his passion for Japanese cooking, something he missed dearly from his days at Kawa Ni in Westport. Bar Bushido has been years in the making, but it wasn’t until the 51 Wall Street space opened up, that it became a reality. 

There are two ways to dine at Bar Bushido. First, there’s the front room; it’s straight out of Tokyo, relaxed and playfully appointed with Japanese prints and Miyazaki-style anime graphics, making it a great spot to hang out and share delicious food and drinks. You can grab a seat at the bar, standard tables, one of four cozy reservation-only booths or gather around the two old-school arcade games to indulge in some friendly competition. The main inspiration was to create a space that Taibe wanted to hang out at every day; a place that is centered around great food and drinks, but warm and inviting for all.

Taibe describes the menu as “out-of-the-box”; it’s pairings that you wouldn’t think would go together, but work in perfect union. Think pork katsu stuffed with oaxacan cheese and curry mayo or wagyu with smoked cheese and sake cured cukes. 

“By making it small plates and shareable, it allows us to keep the per plate costs lower. There is nothing on the menu over $18, but you can add some high-end ingredients to change that very quickly,” Taibe shares.

And, you can add caviar to anything!  

Then, there’s the back room which features an elegant bar and small dimly lit dining space, exclusively serving temaki and a sake-based spirits menu. You can sit right at the handroll counter or at one of six tables along the Japanese bamboo panelled wall. It’s a little more upscale compared to the front room and can be visited by reservation only. In the future, Taibe has visions to transform it into a late night vinyl bar. 

“When I lived in the East Village back in 2003 and when Alphabet City still had a bit of a "punk" edge and St. Mark’s street was primarily basement yakitori shops, we would start the night off on Avenue A with a bucket of PBR during happy hour and conclude the night on St. Mark's for some yakitori and a beer. Bar Bushido would be a mash up of that with a bit of our own style, edge and creativity,” says Taibe. 

But, regardless of which room you dine in, we can guarantee you will eat exceptionally well. We were truly mesmerized by how much attention to detail went into each menu item. And, of course, none of this would be possible without Taibe’s tremendous team, including Chef Rob Haidar who runs the day-to-day operations and Bar Manager Kylie Keeley who has put together an amazingly creative, playful and well-balanced cocktail menu. 

Nearly everything on Bar Bushido’s menu is made in-house, with many ingredients requiring a multi-day process: the tare (Japanese seasoning), broth, seasoned soy sauce, the list goes on and on, are all made from scratch. When we spoke to Taibe about the menu, he radiated enthusiasm as he detailed the processes. The chicken wings, as an example, take four days to make and are sourced locally from either Goffle Farm in (Wyckoff, NJ) or Hudson Valley Farm (Ferndale, NY). The team respects the Japanese culture by following proper technique and not taking any shortcuts, but they inject their own background and heritage into it to create a unique dining experience.

“Not being of Japanese heritage, there is a very thin line to tow to make sure you're respecting their proud heritage but still keeping your own spin on things. So by doing that, we do everything the way it would be done in Japan, but with our own ingredients and twists that make it unique to us,” Taibe says.

While the back room is exclusively temaki, the front room menu has eight sections to choose from: snacks, pickled and cured, handrolls, fried, on rice, grilled, sandwiches, and noodles. It’s an extensive menu, but, rest assured, there is no “wrong” order… although, we’d probably say that no visit to Bar Bushido is complete without ordering at least one temaki. Among our favorites are the fried oyster, which is topped with smoked ikura, kasuzuke tartare, and shiso and the hokkaido scallop, which has yuzu tobiko, brown butter kewpie, and shiso kombu. Then, there’s also a classic spicy tuna or a wagyu beef/uni hand roll for non-seafood eaters. If you’re dining in the back room, you’ll want to look out for the cucumber black goma hand roll. It’s topped with a plum paste and furikake that was so flavorful, it was hard to believe it was vegetarian. 

If you find yourself at Bar Bushido with a large group of friends, there’s a ton of shareable items to choose from. The koji beef jerky topped with togarashi is a must-order as is the okinawa potato salad. It is made with purple potatoes, so it’s vibrant and showstopping. Even if you’re not vegetarian, you’ll certainly enjoy the pillowy agedashi tofu with onion tentsuyu, wasabi zuke, onion, and sesame. Then, there’s all of the grilled skewers. Each one was an absolute hit, but the pork belly with chimichurri was a stand out for us. The meat was so tender, it practically melted in your mouth. 

Last but not least, there are some larger dishes under the rice, sandwich, and noodles sections, which we thought might be better as a main or shared between two. The ramen at Bar Bushido is probably unlike any other ramen you’ve had before since they make the tares, broths, and flavor oils / animal fats from scratch. And, Taibe shared that one day he hopes to make the noodles in-house too.   

It’s going to be tough to narrow down your order, but, to start, let us steer you towards the handrolls, a favorite among us and Taibe. “I love raw fish and just the simplicity of perfectly vinegared rice, crunchy nori, and different textured fish. Nothing better. As simple as it is on the surface, the technique behind it is amazing,” he says.

Bar Bushido is located at 51 Wall Street in Norwalk and will be open for dinner at 4:30 every day except for Monday. Happy hour is expected to start next month and, according to Taibe, will be an inexpensive way to enjoy boiler makers, PBR and ramen, an array of drink specials, yakitori and fried items. 

Bar Bushido 51 Wall Street, Norwalk

@barbushido