It’s easy to eat and packs big mouthfuls of flavor. A tangy butter sauce made with Korean red chile sauce called gochujang and a honey soy glaze make this riff on Southern fried chicken gone wild a fun starter. He contracts with a supplier who provides “chicken oysters,” a pair of succulent oblong pieces of dark meat on both sides of the spine side of the chicken near the thighs.

Rathbun’s Korean fried chicken dish puts an Asian spin on “hot chicken.” And typical Kent, he doesn’t use hunks of chicken breast or thigh. His Ume Japanese Snapper combined pristine fish with a pickled plum relish for a “raw meets preserved” experience. Although our tasting focused on the dinner menu, a sampler of sushi made me want a separate visit to the sushi bar to interact with the chef and watch the master at work. Jimmy Duke, a veteran of Nobu, is Imoto’s exec sushi chef and his work is impeccable. The result is an umami bomb that keeps going off in my mind. Black garlic is aged garlic with a sweeter taste than fresh garlic. One dish that won’t leave my palate memory uses a new “it” vegetable, caulilini (flowering cauliflower) and pan roasted mushrooms in a truffle, black garlic sauce. “As good as it was, (the dumpling) doesn’t stand up to a chunk of lobster tempura,” laughed Kent, who is also known around his kitchens as Big Daddy.

Although the shot glass of sauce is the same Thai red curry, a knob of batter-fried lobster has replaced the original lobster-filled dumpling. Sauces shine, even the simple vinaigrettes, because Asian food is so “sauce centric,” Rathbun explained.ĭuring a recent tasting hosted by Rathbun, he rolled out several of his favorites, starting with Lobster Shooters, a dish that has been one of his signatures for years. “A lot of love goes into that dish,” Rathbun said.Īt Imoto you’ll find pan-Asian polyglot dishes made with ingredients from India, China, Thailand, Korea and Japan. One such is Indian-influenced lamb curry in a clay pot “cooked for hours” with tons of onions, garlic and ginger “all sautéed down in ghee (clarified butter).” As with French cooking, the dish melds layers of flavor. “There are certain dishes on the Imoto menu that are very thought out in terms of sauces and the way they’re designed,” Rathbun explained. By comparison, the dining room is subdued and food-centric. Or bypass all that energy and pass into the dimly lit dining room with a quiet sushi bar. Enter to a lively bar setting with soaring red origami birds hanging from the ceiling. Rather Imoto is very much “today” in décor and set-up. Imoto in Victory Park is not as formal as the original Abacus. The Imoto focus on Asian flavors and classic French techniques, especially in the complex and palate-stunning sauces, recalls the halcyon days of Abacus, now without its founding chef. Rathbun’s new “Asian flavors” and sushi restaurant reminds me of the glory days of Abacus cuisine. Imoto represents a return to Chef Kent Rathbun’s roots.

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