For Halloween, some go creepy clown. Others rock, perhaps, gymnast Simone Biles, jailbird Felicity Huffman or variations on sexy witch.
But at Norfolk restaurant Alkaline, owner Kevin Ordonez plans to “dress up” his restaurant at 742 W. 21st St. as another restaurant: namely, his own forthcoming Baby Izakaya.
Ordonez’ Baby Izakaya will open this winter in Virginia Beach’s Vibe District as a Japanese drinking pub with a wealth of sake, whiskey and Japanese-style drinking food. But for one day, an early version of that restaurant will show up in Norfolk.
“One night only on Halloween,” Ordonez said. “We’ll do food in the style of Baby Izakaya, cocktails in the style of Baby Izakaya cocktails, somewhere between 8-10 bottles of sake … We’re treating it like a pop-up, which we’re very familiar with.”
For those expecting a Vibe District vibe, however, the restaurant will likely appear much the same as it did previously.
“Not, literally, dress up,” Ordonez said. “It’s more the food stylings of Baby Izakaya: We’ll do a lot of grilled food, a lot of fish dishes, no ramen, none of Alkaline Ramen’s menu.”
Alongside a broader selection of sake than diners could likely find anywhere else in the region — Ordonez and bar manager Jonathan Reynolds are looking for little-seen styles like yamahai and namazake — the cocktail menu will undergo a full overhaul, with an entire menu of new concoctions.
This won’t be Reynolds’ only Japanese-inflected cocktail pop-up of the season: On Sunday, Reynolds will play host to Night School at Crudo Nudo across the street from Alkaline — serving Japanese-inflected mixology and “konbini” food of the sort served in Japanese mini-marts. Think egg salad and teriyaki chicken sandwiches, with the crust cut off your bread just like mom used to do.
But at Alkaline on Halloween, Ordonez will be trying out grilled items on his restaurant’s binchotan — a super-hot white-charcoal grill. He won’t promise specific items just yet, but said the menu will be a 10 to 14 item array of small plates with “fish, meats, vegetables, and a variety of seafoods with different cooking methods.” Non-ramen Japanese noodles are also a possibility.
No tickets are offered, and it’s not a prix-fixe meal: Just show up and eat.
But even if the restaurant won’t literally be dressed up, the staff will be. And they bribe their customers to do the same.
“If you come into the restaurant with a costume, we always give you a treat,” Ordonez said. “In the past we’ve given people a pack of dried ramen. We give out little bags of Asian candies, we get all sorts of stuff. We’ve done it every year on Halloween. We like to see good sports.”
if you go
Baby Izakaya Halloween is 5 to 10 p.m. Oct. 31 at Alkaline Ramen, 742 W. 21st St., Norfolk, 757-395-4300, www.alkalineramen.com.
The “Model Citizen Presents: Night School” cocktail and konbini pop-up is 6:30 p.m. to midnight Sunday at Crudo Nudo, 727 W. 21st St., Norfolk, 757-351-6080, www.crudonudo.com. Walk-ins only.
