In early 2008, Kay Kobayashi’s immigration lawyer delivered sobering news: Only six months away from an electrician degree, Kobayashi needed to completely switch careers in order to obtain a visa and stay in the United States. Last month, he opened his fourth restaurant: an ’80s-themed yakitori bar called Secret Fort.
His first restaurant, Yoroshiku, opened in 2012 as a yakitori bar before pivoting quickly to a ramen izakaya. When the pandemic hit and business slowed, Kobayashi’s thoughts returned to skewers, and he hatched a plan for a string of pop-ups. Spirited receptions to the simple menus encouraged Kobayashi to slice Yoroshiku’s space in half, making way for Secret Fort to open next door.
The name stems from Kobayashi’s childhood in Sapporo, Japan: His parents ran an appliance store, and the excess cardboard boxes they brought home became the material secret forts, where Kobayashi retreated for privacy and to build his own world.
“I put in my favorite toys, hung out with my friends, and ate snacks,” he recalls with a smile. He began to explore ways that he could foster the same playfulness in a restaurant setting.
Kobayashi spent over three thousand dollars on ‘80s memorabilia in Japan, filling shelves across the restaurant upon his return. A collage of Japanese posters and magazines plasters the right-hand wall above the dining tables. An 8-bit flame, the only signage on the storefront, recalls the iconic NES and Atari videogames of the ‘80s.
A large board behind the bar displays available skewers and snacks, a detail modeled on traditional yakitori joints.
Rather than going wide with one animal — using many of the thirty or so chicken parts made into yakitori in Japan — Secret Fort’s menu features chicken, pork, beef, seafood, and vegetables. The menu also includes specialities that aren’t traditionally served on a stick, such as okonomiyaki and pickled cucumber.
Patrons of the old Yoroshiku recognize a familiar drink list: whisky highballs, specialized cocktails, sake, shochu and local and Japanese beer.
Opening Secret Fort as a yakitori bar forced Kobayashi to recall the challenges of his debut in Seattle. To pivot to a visa-friendly career, he spent four years completing a yakitori apprenticeship in Sapporo. Kobayashi returned to Seattle in 2012 and opened Yoroshiku. But diners hesitated at the unfamiliar menu. “Where’s the teriyaki? Where’s the sushi?” Kobayashi remembers them asking. A year later, the national ramen craze took hold in Seattle, and the restaurant replaced the yakitori grill with a noodle boiler.
During Yoroshiku’s decade-long run as a ramen izakaya, Seattle’s appetite for Japanese food evolved. The once ubiquitous teriyaki scene faded into the background, losing a third of the Seattle shops between 2006 and 2016. Diners flocked to try the kushiyaki tasting menu at Aki Kushiyaki when it opened in 2021. Nationally, pandemic openings of New York yakitori restaurants Torien and Kono pointed toward a growing appreciation of the craft — paralleling the beginnings of the mid-2000s ramen trend.
Seizing the moment, Kobayashi cut his restaurant in half: Yoroshiku remains as a ramen bar, and Secret Fort spawned next door.
The sharper menu focus both eases operations in the kitchens and alleviates some pains for diners. Tables now turn over quickly at Yoroshiku, giving time back to ramen-lovers who previously waited forty-five minutes for a bowl. Customers looking to hide out for longer find a respite in Secret Fort, much like Kobayashi did in the cardboard constructions of his childhood—but with better snacks and cocktails.
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