former sergio at torishin opens his own place in chinatown serving delicious yakitori. the only disappointment was they ran out of chochin.
tail
heart
inner thigh
knee
kyoto sweet peppers
oyster
potato
katsu
quail
duck and chicken tsukune
ooe bonus round
Omg you are eating so good.
Btw, where does the term “sergio” come from? The first time i saw it here i thought it was the cdc actual name and got really confused 
Nice toto and 
!!
Lol when I first joined FTC it confused me too. My answer might be just as confusing. It’s a metaphor for head chef/owner. I think it started when Sergio Penuelas of fan favorite 106 Seafood Underground was cheffing for a small chain of family restaurants called Mariscos Chente and Coni’Seafood. The food was best when Sergio was in the kitchen, so it became a thing of Where’s Sergio cooking today? and it blossomed from there. Veterans can weigh-in if I got something wrong.
Thanks for the explanation, i figured it was something like that
First time I’ve seen the phoenix claw at a yakitori spot
I’m glad there’s someone who didn’t let this photo pass without a mention because it definitely deserves more discussion. 
@PorkyBelly I’ve been waiting for someone on this board to post about Kono!
One of the few places in NY I really want to go to. What was the best bite?
If you were a Michelin inspector, would you give it a star?
It needs a few infinity stones to be complete.
it was excellent and i would give it a porkybelly star. highlights were fried chicken skin, monaka with chicken liver and truffles, chicken roulade with uni, heart, inner thigh, oysters, knee, katsu, quail, tsukune, skin, and black sugar creme brulee.
Maybe the perfect place for a weary solo traveler to end up after a nightmare of a travel day.
They were gracious enough to seat me at 9p (8:30 res) after a 12 hour door to door travel day from LA to NYC. The first few courses flew out to catch me up with the rest of the diners but that didn’t bother me one bit. Sergio was wearing his chicken fat splattered blue Nike dunks as he worked the skewers. The music was 2000s era Bat Mitvah hip hop which was hilarious and comforting. The flame kissed chicken parts bubbling over the binchotan as smoke billowed into the air stimulated some primitive part of my brain so much so that I was in a a daze most of the meal.
The sake paring was fine with the highlight being the very first pour of something quite fruity. My favorite bites of the night were the chicken skin, the tsukune (got a 2nd), the chicken liver and truffle, and surprisingly the knee.
Black toilet paper is something I haven’t seen before.
I will be back at some point.
There was a poster called westsidegal who contended that prospective diners at then Mariscos Chente / now Coni’Seafood should call ahead to make sure that the chef Sergio was in the kitchen that day. She idolized Sergio. At that time, Mariscos Chente had the same kind of buzz that Holbox had a year or two ago, and it was the subject of frequent posts. Posters would peek into the kitchen to ensure that Sergio was indeed there and include that vital information in their reports.
Sergio has long since left. I never tasted a difference in food quality.
