Few rituals are as old, or as universal, as the act of cooking over an open flame. Long before restaurants and recipes, there was fire and something to heat over it. Every culture has its version: the yakitori grills of Japanese izakayas, the asado of Argentina, the braai of South Africa, the backyard barbecue that defines an American summer. Different countries, different cuts, same instinct. Gather people around heat and smoke, and something opens up.
The specific appetite built post a weekend walk or a trip to the dog park, sparks differently than the traditionally seated scenario. Suddenly possibilities seem endless, casual conversations ignite and originally intended pit stop turn into fleeting hours gone by, indulging long past prime daylight. There’s something about the transference of cooking inside, then moved outdoors, that breeds a certain exchange, a collective effervescence if we may. It extends the expectation for charm and pushes past the usual aesthetically driven ambience we seek inside a restaurant's four walls.
As far as for casual living, this is our ideal recipe at large. Culturally communal, tempered for taste, travel forward without going far.
‘The Passport Project’ marks the next chapter of ‘Ephemeral Matter.’
For the past year, Ephemeral Matter has brought together some of New York’s most exciting emerging pastry chefs for a series of one-of-a-kind collaborations. Now the format we pioneered is evolving. For the rest of the summer, we’re taking it outside, gathering around the grill and inviting a new generation of chefs to cook in the open air.
We’ll hand our yakitori grill to a rotating lineup of emerging chefs, each creating seasonal dishes rooted in their own traditions, memories, and obsessions. Some recipes have traveled thousands of miles. Others were born right here, borrowing freely from everywhere. That’s the beauty of American cooking. It has never stood still.
Served on our in-house tableware for an elevated stay, pull up a seat. Order a skewer. Try something unexpected. Start a conversation. Meet the chef. Meet new friends. Return each weekend through the summer for a new menu and a new perspective. Just bring your curiosity, an appetite because the best meals don’t just feed us, they bring us together.
Join us around the fire. No passport required.