Hachiroku’s Third Act: The Loop Opens in New Haven’s Arts District

What are you doing on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.? If you’re tuned into the Japanese cuisine scene in New Haven, we know where we’ll find you: Standing in line to be one of the first to experience The Loop, a brand-new marketplace, food court, and kitchen by the enlightened crew that brought us Hashiroku Shokudo & Sake Bar, and Hachiroku Handroll Bar & Tapas. CT Bites was lucky enough to get a private preview, and we’re here to tell you: The Loop is about to revolutionize the way we eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

To catch you up: Yuta Kamori was a stranger to New Haven when he opened the first Hachiroku on Orange Street in 2022. But soon, very soon – in spite of not even a sign out front -- he had a passionate fan base and, much to his surprise, an outpouring of support from local chefs and restaurateurs. “I walked in cold,” he recalls, but found “good people here – people who spread the word.” By 2023 he had premiered the second Hachiroku, a spare, elegant sushi bar on State Street, which opened to great acclaim and which, like his first place, quickly became a statewide favorite.

Now, Kamori and his team, including wife Sanae and business partner Hiroyuki Fuji, are opening the doors to their most ambitious project yet: The Loop by Hachiroku, a 4,000 square foot (plus 2,000 outside) marketplace, kitchen, food hall and, coming in the fall, bar and restaurant. It is a cause for celebration. Visitors will rejoice over a dazzling selection of prepared foods, such as bento boxes artistically layered with two-tone tuna and uni; a starburst of salmon centered on a glistening pyramid of roe; roasted fish with pickled radishes and jalapenos; and fried chicken with roasted veggies, seaweed, and seasoned egg. The marketplace offers an eye-popping array of imports, from salty snacks in cello bags to sparkling Japanese sodas in candy store colors. It is the stuff of many an Asian mart, but in addition to fun food, frozen mochi, and 1,000 curious condiments, The Loop has great-looking produce (watercress! melons!), fresh seafood, and a whole section devoted to Japanese beef, including beautiful cuts of wagyu. 

The expansive space, on the corner of Audubon and Orange (an arty address if there ever was one), was most recently home to El Segundo, which specialized in international street food. That place looked like a cross between a Mexican flea market and a 1980s subway station; Kamori says it took a full month to remove all the graffiti. What has emerged is a study in industrial grace. Concrete floors, raw ceilings, and enormous garage doors (fully operational) are softened by a jungle’s worth of potted plants. There is a proper bar indoors and a satellite bar on the patio; both will soon be fully stocked, with an emphasis on wine, sake, and Japanese whiskey.

Why the name? Kamori explains that “The Loop” refers to all the people and businesses who have made his success in New Haven possible. “Community and connection,” he says, recalling restaurant owners who hosted parties in his first space when it was still unknown, and neighborly chefs and managers who became patrons and friends. One of his collaborators, Hen & Heifer of Guilford, provides the Hachiroku locations with desserts; at The Loop he will be featuring their Toasted Sesame Crunch and Hojicha Panna Cotta. 

CT Bites has not yet seen a menu from The Loop, nor have we gotten a glimpse at the price points. But we do know that we can expect top-quality ramen, Japanese sandwiches (“nothing like American sandwiches,” says Kamori), fluffy Japanese pancakes, plus oodles of sushi and those gorgeous bento bowls, made from the best and the freshest seafood – some from the East Coast, some from Tokyo, delivered twice weekly. “Nothing on the menu I don’t like,” promises Kamori. We know for sure that to have such clean proteins, such high-quality meals prepared and ready for pick-up, seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., is truly a game-changer.