La mesa de sushi más dura de Filadelfia acaba de recibir un nuevo y relajado hermano

Earlier this year, Jesse Ito, the chef-owner of wildly popular Royal Sushi & Izakaya, boarded a plane with his longtime collaborator Justin Bacharach. The two were headed to Japan to do dining research for their newest Philly restaurant. For both chefs, who had been cooking Japanese food for much of their careers, it was ironically their first time there.

The inspiration they pulled from that trip arrives in the heart of Rittenhouse Square today, Tuesday, September 30, as Dancerobot, a sprawling new venture that introduces Philly to a side of Japanese cuisine that is nearly unrepresented here. Its debut comes as Royal, Ito’s much-awarded first restaurant, celebrates nine years of business in Queen Village. Dancerobot features over 100 seats, with plans to introduce weekend brunch and late-night hours fit for its buzzy Center City neighborhood (1710 Sansom Street).

To start, hours are 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday to Thursday, and until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Reservations available on Resy.

There will be no sushi at the Dancerobot, which makes sense if you understand the division of labor at Royal Izakaya. Since Bacharach joined the team in January 2021, Jesse has toiled at the omakase counter, while Bacharach ran the rest of the menu. They’d collaborate on some things, but Ito gave Bacharach near full creative control. He’ll take that a step further at Dancerobot, where the two are co-owners and Bacharach is the executive chef. Someone has to stay home and run the omakase, after all.

With Bacharach at the helm, Dancerobot’s menu will focus on Japanese kissaten cuisine, a style of cooking that is homey and comforting, and notably reminiscent of Western dishes. Look for French onion soup a la Japonaise, kare pan (beef-filled buns), wagyu roast beef, katsu curry, and pizza toast, the post-war Japanese classic that is exactly what it sounds like: a slice of bread piled with pizza toppings.

“People might think this stuff is ‘fusion’ but this is what Japanese people eat” says Ito. “The reason you don’t see this kind of stuff in the U.S. is because you have to make it from scratch, you can’t buy a frozen kare pan.”

Bacharach, who grew up in Bucks County, has been cooking in Philadelphia for more than 15 years. His longest tenure was at Cheu Noodle Bar and Bing Bing Dim Sum, two now-closed but much-beloved restaurants that married Asian and American flavors and cooking techniques. At Royal, he and Ito found a shared work ethic and desire to grow.

“I believe that a successful restaurant needs to have a chef-operator on premise to hold the restaurant to high standards, and drive forward” says Ito. “Justin and I share that, which is a big part of the reason I wanted to open Dancerobot with him.”

Dancerobot’s bakery program forms the backbone of the restaurant. Bacharach has long developed the desserts for Royal Izakaya, and has been working out the kinks on his recipes for Dancerobot for years. All the shokupan, or milk bread, is house-made, along with the kare pan (a sort of savory donut filled with curried beef or potatoes), steamed buns, and more.

“The late night menu is inspired by Japanese konbini or convenience stores” Bacharach explained. The kitchen will close at 11 p.m. after which point they’ll offer things like egg sandwiches out of a fridge and hot kare pan out of a warmer.

The bar program is designed to pair well with these dishes. The sake and shochu options are modeled after Royal Izakaya’s best-in-the-city selection, while the cocktail menu leans on classics. There’s a Negroni with shochu, melon, and green Chartreuse that mimics melon sodas sold at kissatens. There’s a chu-hai, a classic style of cocktail popular in Japan that’s made with buckwheat tea, and an espresso martini with black sesame fat-washed vodka. A list of frozen cocktails include a slushy take on an Aperol spritz.

“It’s kind of fun to fit in the nostalgic throwback vibe of the restaurant” Bacharach explained.

Though it’s been completely rebuilt (the location was previously a Foodery shop with a beer selection) the room has a patina reminiscent of Royal Izakaya, with Victorian touches and a slightly retro ’80s vibe. The entryway is papered with Japanese comics, and the hot-pink neon Dancerobot sign glows down Sansom Street.

“When I opened Royal, it was always my focus to challenge people’ s preconceptions of what Japanese food is” says Ito. “I feel like Dancerobot is the next iteration of that where we can kind of lean in, have more fun and take a bigger risk.”