On St. Mark's Place, Toyko-based Pizza Studio Tamaki to take over Moody Tongue space

The space currently home to Moody Tongue Pizza will soon have a new tenant. 

Pizza Studio Tamaki, a Tokyo-based pizzeria led by Tsubasa Tamaki, is set to permanently take over the location at 123 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue this spring. 

Ahead of the opening, the team will host a limited pop-up tomorrow and Wednesday from 6–11 p.m., marking Pizza Studio Tamaki's first appearance in the United States. 

According to press materials, during the pop-up, Tamaki will serve a small selection of pizzas and starters reflecting his Tokyo-style take on Neapolitan pizza ... where his dough is fermented for roughly 30 hours, made with a proprietary blend of Japanese and American flours, then baked at high temperatures in a custom oven. (Pete Wells has more about Tamaki at the Times here. You need pop-up reservations here.)

Following the pop-up, the space will be redesigned ahead of the permanent opening, with plans to refresh the concept while keeping Tamaki's core approach intact. 

Moody Tongue opened here in late 2024, billed as serving NYC's first Tokyo-Neapolitan pizzeria. 

Unfortunately, the only reader reports we had about the place were complaints about a loud DJ out front during the summer Open Street on St. Mark's Place.

First sign of Moody Tongue on St. Mark's Place

There's renovation activity taking place inside 123 St. Mark's Place.

As previously reported, the owners of Chicago's Moody Tongue Brewing Company received conditional approval last November for a beer-wine license for the space. According to the brand's CB3 questionnaire, the unnamed Japanese restaurant will serve a variety of sushi platters and entrees. 

The team opened Moody Tongue Sushi on West 10th Street in early 2023.

This address will also likely be a Moody Tongue (so to speak). EVG reader Jose Garcia spotted this Moody Tongue apparatus (so to speak) being loaded into the space this past Thursday...

People seem to like what they do — the Dining Room at Moody Tongue in Chicago boasts two Michelin stars, for instance.

This space just west of Avenue A last housed Pop's Eat-Rite, the veggie burger joint.