Sensitive Types

DOMO ARIGATO Jack Huang will bring Japanese etiquette to the Back Bay with his new restaurant Douzo: "In Japan, if somebody gives you something or opens the door, they say `douzo' please take this or please come in" which is exactly what folks will be doing when Douzo opens come January. Huang sold his interest in Fugakyu of Brookline and Sudbury last year. Now, for about $2 million, he is creating a 4,000-square-foot space with 20-foot ceilings and origami-themed interior, right next to Back Bay Station on Dartmouth Street. Plans include 120 seats, a 300-square-foot corner for takeout, and evening access to 700 underground parking spaces. That means Huang can extend his courtesies to several crowds: suburban commuters in a rush, nearby office workers at lunchtime, and South End and Back Bay neighbors walking by morning, noon, and night.

MI AMOR Andres Branger's new little South End restaurant is a labor of love. He even sold his neighborhood condo and is crashing on the couch of a business partner to swing the $300,000 start-up cost. With barely 20 seats on Shawmut Avenue, Orinoco will open soon, focusing on family recipes from Branger's native Venezuela (arepas and empanadas) with a nod to other Latin cuisines. Branger had hired fellow Venezuelan Carlos Walter, from Douglas Rodriguez's OLA Miami, as a menu consultant. Walter then "fell in love with the concept," Branger says, and moved to Boston to run the kitchen. Branger feared he would have to open without a liquor license, but the city came through at the 11th hour. Since he didn't have to buy it from another license holder, Branger saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.

NEW LOO Allston's Sunset Grill & Tap has the best beer selection in Boston which may explain the crowded quarters. After 18 years, the Brighton Avenue eatery "had gotten to the point where we were bursting at the seams," says owner Marc Kadish, "and people haven't been crazy about our bathrooms, either." Luckily, he also owns Big City pizzeria next door, so he took from one and gave to the other, knocking down a wall and extending Sunset's bar into Big City's first floor. Now it's pizza, beer, and burgers, as well as fine porcelain (in the spiffy new johns).