In Japan, yakitori restaurants are casual, beer-soaked houses of worship for grilled, skewered chicken. Skilled cooks prepare every part of the bird—from crispy skin to crunchy cartilage. You don’t ...

Just west of Tokyo’s Shinjuku station, the busiest train station in the world, the air is said to be heavy with the irresistible aroma of chicken cooking on charcoal grills. This is Yakitori Alley ...

Backyard barbecues are a great summer ritual. But this year, instead of serving the usual burgers or tri-tip, consider really sticking it to your guests. Skewers, that is. You’ll find delicious, ...

Just west of Tokyo’s Shinjuku station, the busiest train station in the world, the air is said to be heavy with the irresistible aroma of chicken cooking on charcoal grills. This is Yakitori Alley ...

The smell grabs you first. Barely charred meat kissed by the radiating heat of binchotan charcoal and salty-sweet tare glaze sends out cartoon-worthy wafts of smoke. They lead to the grill where ...

Two Japanese chefs explain the rich history of their cuisine. What better way to explore a culture than through its cuisine? After missing out on eating our way through new cities over the last year, ...

“Ura! It’s Ura!” Up in the nosebleed seats of Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo’s packed-to-the-gills sumo arena, I’m cheering for my favorite wrestler with a skewer of grilled chicken. It’s not that I’m ...

Hosting can be a lot, especially when part of the game is having the soirée you put together look effortless. In this series, veteran party-throwers tell us how they pull off their highly specific, ...

After a year-plus hiatus, one of the Bay Area’s most masterful yakitori chefs is back. Tommy Cleary, who was known for his ...

Yakitoriguy, as he's known on YouTube, grills using binchotan during a pop-up at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Little Tokyo. (Shelby Moore / For The Times) The smell grabs you ...