The co-founders of Yarbird and RONIN discuss plans for opening up their new izakaya in Sheung Wan and a history predating the next step in their HK story.
Lindsay Jang and Matt Abergel, the co-founders of the time-honoured Yardbird and RONIN, do not follow the typical script Hong Kong restaurateurs abide by when operating restaurants – they do and have charted their own path in the city.
The pair do not like to use the words ‘experience,’ ‘vibe,’ nor ‘concept’ in their lingua franca. Whilst countless local and international media have centred on their vibe-creating ability, rendering the two establishments as requisite elements of a tourist itinerary and the restaurant scene, they say the food and community comes first, and everything else follows.
Yardbird originally opened on Bridges Street in 2011 before relocating to Sheung Wan in 2017. The sister-restaurant, modern and intimate izakaya RONIN, found its wings in 2013. After 12 years, Lindsay and Matt announced the end for RONIN in Central, and a new project to land in Hong Kong – right next to Yardbird – in January 2025.
“We are going back to the foundations of what a real izakaya actually is,” Matt shares during a conversation inside their new unnamed restaurant. “In Sheung Wan, we are bringing a real bar culture to the neighbourhood,” Lindsay adds on.
After 16 years in Hong Kong’s restaurant scene, and a tenure in New York City’s Japanese scene, Matt wants to follow what the chefs in Japan do, “run izakayas where they can truly express themselves.”
The izakaya, formerly a traditional Chinese candy shop, will house 50 seats, the old 100-year-old wooden counter currently fixed in RONIN, and a combination of booth and counter seating. The open-kitchen will act as the heart of the venue. And, of course, the drinks and music programme will be as central to the restaurant, following Yardbird.
However, Matt and Lindsay are quick to correct assumptions that their latest project will be focused solely on Japanese fare. “There will be no twists or central cuisine here. We have always used Hong Kong ingredients in Hong Kong. To even call this project a Japanese dining experience, it’s not. It is the evolution of what we have built over the years,” Matt states.
Lindsay finds the skill sets and experiences they have earned – her at Nobu 57 and Matt in Masa in New York and later Zuma Hong Kong before the pair opened Yardbird – predicates their restaurants’ adoption of Japanese service, precision, and elements, just with a Hong Kong lens.
“The training and places we worked at were Japanese so this is the way we naturally approach things,” Lindsay says. “We are cooking the food we are comfortable with, from the network of suppliers we have worked for over 16 years” Matt adds.
The decision to close RONIN has been deliberated by the pair over the past five years, so too with the plans to open Yardbird locations abroad that were ultimately shelved due to the protests and pandemic hampering their agenda. Once they first explored the empty space neighbouring Yardbird six months ago, the vision for their izakaya came to them.
“We are closing RONIN after 12 years and the whole team is moving here. The kitchen team has been with us since the beginning. [The new izakaya] is not going to be a massive departure from what people know and love about RONIN,” Lindsay explains with the move. “We will have more space for the kitchen and customers to do more in this space.”
RONIN was named after their son, evoking the concept of a Japanese restaurant, Matt explains. Yardbird was named as such because the pair never wanted people to dine thinking it was a Japanese restaurant.
At both restaurants, the pair have stressed quality on the service side with a fun touch to temper serious expectations of each venue. At their new izakaya, they just want people to come and expect good food. No theme or concept is required.
Conversing over a black high table and scoping out the restaurant’s floor plan design below, the restaurant is currently a concrete shell, waiting for construction to begin. Will there be a press release? Maybe, Lindsay says. A big opening party to open with a bang? No, only a friends and family week to open quietly but confidently. Will a PR company be hired to help boost the restaurant? Matt offers a firm no.
“We have never done PR for our restaurants. We have been really f***ing good at ignoring everybody else outside. This restaurant is an extension of our ability to ignore and govern tightly what happens inside of our space,” Matt says.
The vibes, a word they avoided using in a chat at the construction site, that Yardbird and RONIN have conjured over a decade and more are not being manufactured at their new restaurant. “It is the magic that happens when you have excellent food, excellent drink, and excellent service. You cannot set out to create a vibe” Lindsay says.
Form follows function, Matt finds. The details and service precision of the group, matured into an art at Yardbird, will allow people to enjoy themselves and the staff to actually be themselves. “The vibe doesn’t come from the music, lights, or atmosphere, it comes from the people that work there,” he says.
Roughly three and a half months out from opening the izakaya, the pair reflect on a pivotal point opening their third restaurant in Hong Kong. “We were 29-years-old when we opened our first restaurant,” Lindsay takes note of. “The idea of how you want to spend the next half of your life is our reality today. Our kids will be off to college in less than five years and, after that, we can do whatever we want.”
They are bullish on Hong Kong and continue an investment they have made in the city’s restaurant scene over a decade and a half ago. “Whatever happens on 148 Wing Lok Street will also take into account all of the experience that we’ve had in Hong Kong for the last 16 years.”
Follow Foodie to hear more news and information about Lindsay and Matt’s new izakaya restaurant, opening next door to Foodie in Sheung Wan.
