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Augelyn Francisco has ramen six to ten times a day. Tastes might be more accurate, or, calibrates, better still. As the general manager of Mr. Taka at Time Out Market New York, Francisco is responsible for the quality and consistency of each batch of broth. Being that the original Mr. Taka on Allen Street on the Lower East Side frequently appears on citywide best ramen lists, people have certain expectations.
“Mr. Taka is very precise with the taste and the thickness of the broth, so every day I have to make sure that that’s that same taste that we’ve been offering,” Francisco says. “The very important ingredient of the ramen is the broth. So if we don’t have the thickness and the taste, then our ramen is not going to be the same, and everything is going to be different. We have to maintain the color, the thickness, the texture of the liquid and the taste, those are things that we have to check every day. Every time we boil a batch.”
For a team of three—which includes Francisco, a ramen specialist and an appetizer specialist—preparation helps keep those flavors and textures on track.
“We cook the pork today for the broth tomorrow. We cook it all day and put it in the fridge overnight and tomorrow that’s the broth for the next day’s ramen,” Francisco says. But vagaries of doing business, like getting a pork delivery that isn’t up to Mr. Taka’s exacting standards, can threaten to send the schedule off the rails.
“If the pork is not good there’s no miracle that’s gonna happen while cooking it, so better not waste your time,” she says.
Instead, when they once received a not-so-good pork order, the market Mr. Taka called the larger Allen Street operation, which has extra storage and supplies.
“Having a main branch, that is our salvation every time,” Francisco says. “The main branch will send us what we need. Anyone who can be available to bring it here, we call an Uber and they come down here and they bring the food in 15 to 25 minutes.”
Francisco is especially familiar with the Allen Street operation because she’s been their business neighbor since 2017. A pastry chef, her own cafe, Kabisera, is across the street, and, after becoming friends with the Taka team over the years, she jumped in when they returned to the Market this year.
“Ramen and Japanese foods are actually one of my inspirations, they’re why I started my own food business,” she says.
At the Market, Francisco adjusts with Mr. Taka’s offerings based on a variety of factors. Repeated customer requests for chicken teriyaki over rice led them to add it to the menu last week, and the team is particularly attuned to different dietary needs and even the temperature and conditions outside.
Mr. Taka’s cold lemon ramen option, for example, with fish broth, wavy noodles, shredded chicken, lemon, bok choy, leeks, red ginger and a half-boiled egg, is a popular dish on hot days this summer.
“We base our preparation on the weather. If it’s raining, technically people are buying hot ramen, and if it’s too hot outside, we get a lot of cold ramen and appetizers. We have a pork belly bun and chicken bun and fried pork gyoza, vegetable gyoza, so if it’s hot outside, we sell a lot of our appetizers, especially the chicken bun. But if it's raining, then [hot] ramen is very popular,” she says.
The chicken buns, in particular, populate trays all over Time Out Market, regardless of the season.
“The chicken buns are everyone’s favorite because they come with two pieces of big fried chicken. It’s a bun with spicy mayo and crispy pieces of Japanese fried chicken with freshly shredded carrots and daikon, so when you eat it it’s not just filling, but it’s also refreshing. It’s a little sweet and a little sour-y and has this very refreshing taste.”
You’ll also see those trays, teeming with cold or steaming ramen and the fan-favorite buns all across the market and beyond, Francisco says.
“Time Out has a very good rooftop, so a lot of our customers are taking the ramen to go and bringing it out to the rooftop. And also just outside, you have the carousel there and the river with this very scenic view with the Brooklyn Bridge and everything,” she says.
“There are a lot of ways to enjoy your food in this area, it is very beautiful," Francisco says. "There’s a lot of outdoor seating, there’s a nice area that you can walk around, a lot of space that you can just sit back and enjoy.”