Yakitori Totto - The Ultimate Chicken Experience

 

Nestled atop an intimidating, artistically lit set of stairs just off 55th street in New York City is a temple to our most humble,versatile, and valuable food source - Gallus Domesticus .  The restaurant is Yakitori Totto , and the object of worship is Chicken, aka Yardbird.    Yakitori is Japanese for "grilled bird" (yaki = grilled & tori = bird), a largely unknown but wonderful facet of the world of barbecue and grilled foods.   Small bits of chicken are placed on skewers and grilled over Japanese charcoal (bincho-tan) and served with only salt for a garnish.  Simplicity governs the world of yakitori and every bit of the the bird is honored.  A traditional yakitori menu will include liver, gizzard, heart, knee, skin or any other tasty morsel that can be stuck on a bamboo skewer.  After muddling through a mediocre barbecue lunch earlier that day in Times Square, I considered myself celestially blessed as I pulled up my chair directly in front of the grill at Yakitori Totto and opened my menu to consider the universe of options laid before me.   Continue reading Yakitori Totto....