Kyoto Mart & Deli opens in Huntington Station

Jay Liang had been a chef at Japanese restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn for a few years when he and his partner, Rosa Lam, decided to open a Japanese grocery shop in Huntington Station. The two Brooklyn residents were drawn to the style of store — small, but densely stocked with a wide variety of gustatory options — that is increasingly popular in New York City but not common on Long Island. The three Japanese grocers that do exist (Tominaga Shouten in Port Washington, Hanamaru in Syosset and Shin Nippon Do in Roslyn Heights) are all in Nassau County.

On exploratory trips to Long Island, Lam said, “everyone was so friendly.” So they took over a vacant storefront in a small shopping center on East Jericho Turnpike and opened Kyoto Mart & Deli in June. Lam’s sister, Maria, also works at the store, which is named for the city which was once the country’s capital and is still the epicenter of traditional Japanese culture.

The bright shop has a huge selection of instant and semi-instant ramen noodles; Japanese snacks, sweets and sodas; trendy Japanese sliced white bread (for making “sandos”); baked goods like haraya mini taiyaki (matcha-stuffed fish-shaped biscuits); pickled vegetables of all shapes and sizes; imported short-grain rice; and more bottles of soy sauce, yuzu juice and wasabi than you could shake a chopstick at.

Liang plies his trade in the kitchen, preparing grab-and-go sushi and poke, steamed buns and fried dumplings and tempura.

Kyoto Mart & Deli, 274 E. Jericho Tpke., Huntington Station, 646-427-6509. Open 10 a.m.-9 p.m. daily.