SHOJO
One heads to Chinatown for wonderful food. Atmosphere can be a secondary consideration. Restaurateurs Brendan and Brian Moy aim to combine the two with Shojo, their new lounge devoted to modern Asian fare and drink.
The menu changes depending on what ingredients are available locally. Dishes might include anything from fried oysters with kimchi sauce, suckling pig bao, and duck-fat fries to dashi-glazed salmon with Japanese eggplant, tofu “steak” with shiitake mushrooms and bok choy, and a burger.
The beverage program emphasizes sake, with a variety available for sampling. House cocktails include the amusingly named “Cold Tea for Two” — oolong tea-infused vodka, peach, simple syrup, and lemon — a nod to the term for after-hours alcohol rumored to be served by certain Chinatown establishments.
Shojo features brick walls, exposed lighting, reclaimed-wood tables and bar, and a mural depicting the quest of a shojo — the mythical spirit for which the place is named — seeking a never-ending river of sake.
He need not have looked any farther than the bar at Shojo, but perhaps he got distracted by the cold tea.