Porter Exchange Japanese restaurants to be featured on Neighborhood Kitchens

On Friday I arrived at the Porter Exchange (aka The Shops at Porter or Lesley University's University Hall) to find the little hallway of Japanese restaurants (and one Korean restaurant) more of a madhouse than usual. WGBH's Neighborhood Kitchens was there filming for an episode that will air in May. While I was dining at Ittyo, the crew made their way down the hall, filming at Café Mami, Sapporo Ramen, Tampopo and finally Ittyo.

Inaniwa udon with sweet potato tempura

I've been meaning to write about Ittyo for the past couple of months but haven't gotten around to it. Carlos Garcia, owner of Café Mami, took over Ittyo in January and revamped the menu with Sapporo Ramen's owner, Manabu-san. Ittyo now serves inaniwa udon (the previous owners served regular udon) and soba, both of which are trucked in from NYC from the same supplier that Sapporo Ramen uses.

You can design your own bowl of noodles or pick from donburi, curry rice, or salad offerings.

Host Margarita Martínez talks to Manabu-san

You can catch Neighborhood Kitchens on Saturdays at 4pm and Sundays at 6:30pm on WGBH 2 and Fridays at 7:30pm on WGBH 44. Looks like a great show. Their second season will begin airing next month. Season 1 episodes are available online.