Our Story

About the Owner
Nicholas Robey is a graduate of The Midwest Culinary Institute where he studied Asian Cookery as well as classical French technique. Chef Robey has over 10 years of experience in the food industry and has made several trips to Japan to benchmark his ramen against the best.

Food Philosophy and Ramen Obsession
My journey with Japan and Japanese food started in the mid 80s when anime was only one shelf of VHS tapes at Sun coast video. This then unheard medium of “anime” made me ravenous to learn more about this small island so far away. My obsession with ramen started with that all too famous instant ramen brick. It was fast, salty, different from anything my family made, and it was cheap. The concept of fresh ramen didn’t exist yet for me, ramen shops only existed in big cities on the coasts at the time. Several years later while attending The Midwest Culinary Institute I enrolled in the Asian cookery course and learned to make the foods I loved. On my first trip to Japan at least 50% of my meals were ramen. I realized just how far specializing and perfecting one food can take a meal. This was when I first understood that perfect ramen doesn’t exist and is something you constantly strive to make. After working several years in the food Industry and hearing fellow chefs food philosophies I started to form my own. I do not care for celebrity chefs or phrases like “transform and elevate the dish.” I believe mastering a single dish takes more discipline than learning a thousand dishes and executing them “ok” or doing some gimmick Food. Anyone who has eaten ramen in Japan and the United States understands this difference. I believe in simple working class food, I do not look down on it. I’m concerned with feeding people good food and not making a dish that the people in my neighborhood don’t understand and can’t afford. If I can feed people and support my neighborhood then that’s enough for me.