Hiroshi Kitano and Hideyuki Imaizumi have been best friends for a decade. They met at Kinka Izakaya, where Hiroshi was working the line after moving from New York and Hide was a regular customer. Someone pointed him out—same age, same era, also about to open his own place. Hiroshi went to visit Hide's then-new spot in Old Montreal, Marusan, was invited upstairs, and saw the drum kit and the record collection. They've been inseparable since.

For years, they talked about building something together. But Hiroshi had Otto Yakitori to run, then Kitano Shokudo, then Ohayo. Hide had Marusan at Time Out Market Montréal, then Osmo x Marusan. The timing was never right.

"And it's always risky to do business with a best friend," Hiroshi says.

They waited until both of them were stable enough that they didn't need to be aggressive about money. Ten years later, David Schmidt came to them with a space on Plaza St-Hubert and the offer finally made sense. Hiroshi said yes immediately. His one condition: it had to be yakitori.

Enter Yakitori Hibahihi.

Flying leaf, flying fire

They named the restaurant after a hip-hop artist: NIPPS is a founding member of Buddha Brand, one of the most influential Japanese hip-hop groups of the 1990s. He grew up in Queens, moved back to Japan in 1995, and built a career rapping about weed and street life in a country where marijuana is deeply taboo. One of his aliases is Hibahihi or 飛葉飛火, which translates roughly to "flying leaf, flying fire." The leaf was always his metaphor for getting high. The fire, for Hiroshi and Hide, is the binchotan.

"We love him so much," Hide says. "We were listening to Buddha Brand as teenagers. It shaped us."

When they started brainstorming names—Yakitori Hide, Yakitori Hiroshi—nothing felt right. Then one day they were playing records and it clicked. Hibahihi. Flying fire. The character for fire is built into the name, and fire is what they do.

Hiroshi Kitano and Hideyuki Imaizumi have been best friends for a decade. They met at Kinka Izakaya, where Hiroshi was working the line after moving from New York and Hide was a regular customer. Someone pointed him out—same age, same era, also about to open his own place. Hiroshi went to visit Hide's then-new spot in Old Montreal, Marusan, was invited upstairs, and saw the drum kit and the record collection. They've been inseparable since.

For years, they talked about building something together. But Hiroshi had Otto Yakitori to run, then Kitano Shokudo, then Ohayo. Hide had Marusan at Time Out Market Montréal, then Osmo x Marusan. The timing was never right.

"And it's always risky to do business with a best friend," Hiroshi says.

They waited until both of them were stable enough that they didn't need to be aggressive about money. Ten years later, David Schmidt came to them with a space on Plaza St-Hubert and the offer finally made sense. Hiroshi said yes immediately. His one condition: it had to be yakitori.

Enter Yakitori Hibahihi.

Flying leaf, flying fire

They named the restaurant after a hip-hop artist: NIPPS is a founding member of Buddha Brand, one of the most influential Japanese hip-hop groups of the 1990s. He grew up in Queens, moved back to Japan in 1995, and built a career rapping about weed and street life in a country where marijuana is deeply taboo. One of his aliases is Hibahihi or 飛葉飛火, which translates roughly to "flying leaf, flying fire." The leaf was always his metaphor for getting high. The fire, for Hiroshi and Hide, is the binchotan.

"We love him so much," Hide says. "We were listening to Buddha Brand as teenagers. It shaped us."

When they started brainstorming names—Yakitori Hide, Yakitori Hiroshi—nothing felt right. Then one day they were playing records and it clicked. Hibahihi. Flying fire. The character for fire is built into the name, and fire is what they do.

Hiroshi Kitano and Hideyuki Imaizumi have been best friends for a decade. They met at Kinka Izakaya, where Hiroshi was working the line after moving from New York and Hide was a regular customer. Someone pointed him out—same age, same era, also about to open his own place. Hiroshi went to visit Hide's then-new spot in Old Montreal, Marusan, was invited upstairs, and saw the drum kit and the record collection. They've been inseparable since.

For years, they talked about building something together. But Hiroshi had Otto Yakitori to run, then Kitano Shokudo, then Ohayo. Hide had Marusan at Time Out Market Montréal, then Osmo x Marusan. The timing was never right.

Hiroshi Kitano and Hideyuki Imaizumi have been best friends for a decade. They met at Kinka Izakaya, where Hiroshi was working the line after moving from New York and Hide was a regular customer. Someone pointed him out—same age, same era, also about to open his own place. Hiroshi went to visit Hide's then-new spot in Old Montreal, Marusan, was invited upstairs, and saw the drum kit and the record collection. They've been inseparable since.

For years, they talked about building something together. But Hiroshi had Otto Yakitori to run, then Kitano Shokudo, then Ohayo. Hide had Marusan at Time Out Market Montréal, then Osmo x Marusan. The timing was never right.