「Why Ramen?」

　What a great way for a guy who loves Japan and Food to combine the two, and in Tokyo no less. People thought I was crazy, and I probably was. But I figured if I could get people in Tokyo to love my ramen, than that's a pretty significant statement of success. I had no idea how to make it and had never worked in a ramen shop. So with my own vision of what I thought my ramen should taste like and what I thought a great shop should feel like, I opened Ivan Ramen in 2007 and have never looked back.

Ivanramen concept

　Small ramen shops in Tokyo are all about being artisnal, and specialized. We source ingredients from all over Japan and sometimes even further afield. We make all our noodles on premises, after all, we are a noodle shop and I never did like the idea of putting someone else's noodles in my soup.

　Ivan ramen is located in Rokakoen, a small town about fifteen minutes from Shinjuku station on the Keio Line. Although it's a small and quite town, it has a long history and a lot of unique and hard working souls. From the first day I started building the shop, my neighbors welcomed me with open arms and threw all their support behind me. My interest in slow food as a concept is not just how the food is prepared or where it's procured, but also about how you interact and work with your neighbors. Greeting fellow shop keepers, kids riding by on bicycle shouting out a hello, everyone smiling. In today's world this seems too difficult to achieve, too busy, worrying about how your going to improve your bottom line. But a truly successful small business includes neighbors, and a healthy town. We continue to expand our relationships in Rokakoen and to give back to our community by buying locally and participating in our community.

Next step in my ramen adventure.

　Ivan ramen plus is the next step in my ramen adventure. When I opened Ivan Ramen, I was a foreigner trying to gain acceptance for my ramen, my cuisine. Although I have surely been creative, I have been careful to not push the boundaries too far, to cook ramen that was easily recognizable by everyone. This was the original idea behind serving Shio and Shoyu ramen, the closest thing to a standard in the ramen world. Now I have achieved the unimaginable, I am just a guy who runs a ramen shop with a great reputation. When I first opened kids would ride their bikes past my shop and shout foreigner, now they call out "ramen ya ojisan" or hey ramen shop owner. Now that my food has been accepted, with my new shop I'm ready to spread my wings a little bit more, make more original dishes, dishes that my customers may not always recognize, but know me well enough to trust that it will taste good. Now with the next step, the next challenge, I am opening Ivan Ramen Plus! Why the plus? The plus says I am no longer reticent to make new kinds of ramen dishes. This shop's food is the true blend of all my cooking influences. I'm ready to push the envelope, and give my customers an amazing dining experience! The main difference between Ivan ramen and Ivan ramen plus, is the new shop will serve only Dashi soup without meat stock blended in. I have developed two amazing dashi. One is an Ago Dashi (dried whole flying fish) with dried scallop, and dried shrimp, among other ingredients. The other is a blend of four varieties of bonito and dried shiitake. I chose these soups because I wanted a light soup with real depth of flavor. While light soup can be difficult to balance, when it's done right it's amazing, and I think we've done a great job. Since I started to learn about Dashi, I've become more and more fascinated with the incredible varieties of dried fish, shellfish and konbu. I've been on a mission to come up with a Dashi that I truly love and can offer my new customers. I know that these two are it! Along with this dashi exploration I've become a real noodle geek. Im constantly working with different flour companies searching for great flours to make the next great noodle. I've been working with a number of new noodle recipes and have become particularly interested in hirauchi men which are wide flat noodles. My hirauchi men are chewy but still maintain a bite with a fabulous aroma that is truly addicting. I've been working on several variations, different flours, different recipes, different sizes. The thing that's most important to me is that I run a noodle shop, and if the noodles aren't memorable I haven't done my job well. At Ivan Ramen Plus we will offer new soups, new noodles, new inspiration. I hope you enjoy it.

Ivan Orkin Profile

Ivan Orkin is a born and raised New Yorker. So naturally Tokyo has been a pretty good fit. After studying Japanese at the University of Colorado, after some idle time, went back to school and studied at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. After working at Mesa Grill, Restaurant Lutece, Judson Grill and Restaurant Associates, it was time for a change. It was off to Tokyo where after a couple of years of false starts Ivan Ramen was born and continues to flourish.

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