“Shabu Shabu” Hits State Street

Dion Liu lifted a long ribbon of raw pork with tweezer-sized tongs, inspecting its slick red surface. He displayed it to the table’s guests. He dipped the pork into a bubbling, boiling metal pot of broth, swishing the meat from side to side for almost a minute. Then he pulled it out, cooked to medium rare, and placed it gingerly on his diners’ plates.

It was now up to the diners to finish the cooking job.

Liu offered the demonstration for the mayor and two of her aides Thursday at Dashi, a new Shabu-Shabu or hot pot restaurant he co-owns at 754 State St. at the corner of Bradley Street.

After a soft opening at the end of last week, the restaurant opened its doors for an official ceremony, ribbon-cutting and shabu-shabu demonstration. Named after the savory broth in which the cooking process takes place, Dashi is the brainchild of Liu with chef Hiro NagataDashi marks their third venture in the state; other restaurants, both traditional Japanese, are in Norwich and New Caanan.

With its hot pot style, the restaurant brings a bright new culinary tradition to the city, Mayor Toni Harp said at the ribbon cutting. A series of short-lived culinary ventures (followed by empty storefront space) have occupied the space over the past four years. There is now Japanese food, served against a backdrop of brightly painted walls and white tablecloths. A large painting of a buddha greets diners at the front hallway. Liu said there is an emphasis on comfort food: ramen with pork bones and spicy miso broth, pork and chicken curries, pork dumplings, and Japanese-style fried chicken with lots of garlic, ginger and sesame, and both fish and vegetarian sushi rolls.

But the centerpiece is Shabu-Shabu, culturally understood as not just the food, but a whole dining experience.

In Shabu-Shabu, trays of raw food — cabbage, carrots, think noodles and strips of fresh pork or chicken — and a pot of still-lukewarm broth are brought out to a table, which contains internal warming equipment. With the press of a button at the edge of the table, a built-in heating pad gets turned on, and the broth comes to a boil, bubbling frenetically on the table.

In a cloud of aromatic steam, diners use tongs to dip their pork, chicken or vegetables into the broth. Those ingredients ride the boil for close to a minute. Then diners fish them out with tongs or a small, slotted spoon. From start to finish — or table to pot to mouth, if you prefer — the whole process takes no more than two or three minutes. 
 

Demonstrating the method Thursday, Liu said he’s ​“been looking and hoping for a spot in New Haven” for over two years, and is ready to settle in under landlords Julie and Steve Bernblum and Henry Ditman. They’re equally relieved; Julie Julie Bernblum said they’ve waited ​“years for the right tenant,” and that she knew ​“that Dashi is the tenant that we were hoping and waiting for.”

She was one of many welcoming him with the health of upper State Street in mind; Nemerson hailed the new space as a boon to the economic development of the city and particularly the upper state street area, which has experienced a sort of revitalization in the last several years. This new addition would be a delicious part of that, he said — so much so that he and his wife had already stopped by for dinner, and he could give it a personalized recommendation. So did Alison De Renzi, co-owner of the nearly L’Orcio restaurant and president of the Upper State Street Association. 

“This corner has been the bane of my existence for many years,” said De Renzi She has seen businesses come and go with almost serial regularity, and has grown tired of seeing empty storefronts at the corner. ​“It really is an anchor for the neighborhood,” and she is hopeful that Dashi will bring more business to the area.