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Crane & Turtle kitchen staff are ringing in the new year in maybe the best way possible: a 10-day food pilgrimage to Japan. C&T Chef Makota Hamamura and fiancée Katy Kinch (who handles Crane & Turtle desserts) along with two line cooks (plus one already out there) are headed straight to Japan on January 1st. They'll hit Tokyo and its Ramen Museum along with a trip to Hamamura's hometown of Kochi — and a visit to his grandmother's house, deep in the mountains — to learn about making mochi. Hamamura wants the staff to better understand Japanese techniques and why things are done a certain way. For sure, though, the trip will see the group "pretty much eating everything," Hamamura says.
Crane & Turtle will be closed from January 1st until the 12th, reopening on the 13th.