At some point in the spring of 2019 I watched an episode of the Netflix series “Street Food” centered on Osaka and the story of Toyo and his izakaya. I was transfixed by all of the food featured on that show, but the memory of Toyo’s tiny, open air bar stuck in my mind. I immediately wanted to visit it. Fast forward to June, and when I was planning my big trip for the year, the izakaya, Toyo himself, and the amazing food wouldn’t leave my mind. I ended up buying plane tickets to Japan and planned to fly home out of Osaka so I could visit Izakaya Toyo.

Sometimes the ideas of things surpass their reality. But not in this case. On my last day in Osaka, knowing how popular this little bar is, I walked past more than an hour before opening and gave Toyo a wave that he returned before returning to preparing his humble restaurant.

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