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Catch Your Fish Before You Eat It at Japanese Restaurant Coming to Chelsea

 ZAUO plans to open its first U.S.-based outpost on West 24th Street, a filing shows.
ZAUO plans to open its first U.S.-based outpost on West 24th Street, a filing shows.
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Facebook/Takuya Takahashi

CHELSEA — Teach a man to fish and he can eat at this new Japanese restaurant.

A Japan-based restaurant chain that lets patrons catch and eat their own fish is planning to open its first U.S.-based outpost in the neighborhood.

ZAUO is planning to launch a “nautically-themed” three-floor eatery at 152 W. 24th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, a document filed with Community Board 4’s Business Licenses and Permits committee shows.

First and second-floor customers will be able to sit in a boat and reel in fish from an adjacent tank stocked with around 10 different types of fish, the filing says. After the fish have been caught, a chef will prepare them “in any style.”

The restaurant’s more upscale third floor will serve sushi and “high-end” seafood dishes, the filing adds.

In 2015, ZAUO's New York president Takuya Takahashi told VICE that the chain was scouting locations in New York and San Francisco.

“By preparing and eating fish that you have caught yourself, you can be truly grateful for life,” Takahashi said at the time.

The West 24th Street eatery will serve beer, wine and liquor, pending liquor license approval, the filing shows.

In addition to sashimi, sushi and other fish-based dishes, a tentative menu filed with the board includes entrees like wagyu beef, vegetable tempura, soups and salads.

Novice fishermen won’t have to worry about going hungry, the restaurant’s website notes.

“If you are having a difficult time catching a fish, you can ask the staff and they will give you some advice,” it says.

The restaurant is expected to open at the beginning of next year, Takahashi said in an email.