Before En Japanese Brasserie shuttered its doors in December 2024, I interviewed the owner, Reika Alexander, a former jazz pianist. She pointed me toward All Blues, a Tokyo-style listening bar in Tribeca owned by Yuji Fukushima. In the back room, where patrons are encouraged not to talk but to listen, a D.J. spins vinyl tracks—by the likes of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, or Grace Jones. If you’d rather have a one-on-one with a friend, grab a seat at the bar. Three large mid-century JBL hi-fi speakers—a Paragon and a Hartsfield among them—boom throughout the space. The cocktails, especially the Negronis, are excellent (though pre-mixed), and one of the bartenders once sang backup for Roy Ayers. Pair your drink with Japanese snacks—udon, dumplings, edamame—and if you ask nicely, Fukushima will show you his record collection. “Our condition is, ‘let the music do the talking,’” he told Tribeca Citizen. —Elena Clavarino

Elena Clavarino is the Senior Editor at AIR MAIL