Family Recipe

2013 & 2014 Michelin Bib Gourmand Awardee! Family Recipe opened on the Lower East Side in September of 2011. The concept grew out of chef/owner Akiko Thurnauer's experiences growing up with a food-obsessed family in Tokyo, Japan, but her cuisine is influenced by her appreciation of New York City and other places around the world. It's not traditional Japanese food; as the New York Times put it,...

Hand-crafted, delicately presented Japanese cuisine is the specialty of Tokyo-born chef Akiko Thurnauer. After cutting her teeth at Nobu and later creating lovely hand-delivered bento-box meals, chef Thurnauer has claimed her own space at this tiny restaurant on the Lower East Side. The menu focuses on small plates, designed for sharing and experiencing Japanese home cooking as you might enjoy...

Japanese restaurant on Eldridge.

Haute meets homey at this Japanese jewel box. Tokyo-born chef uses technique and tastes of home as starting point for her creative flights. Market-driven menus lead to buns stuffed with pork belly and poached pear, sake-steamed mussels with nori butter, signature slow-cooked short ribs in a cast iron pot. Family affair draws on husband’s Swiss background for chocolate cake recipe (served with...

It’s not traditional Japanese food; it’s cooking from the heart, satisfying and surprising, created and served in a stylish open kitchen.