Noodles and fried chicken are menu stars at a new restaurant opening in Durham

There’s a small trend in tattooing best described as mayo devotion.

The thought is: if you love mayo so much, why don’t you get a tattoo of it?

Well, fair enough, chef Ray Williams thought. Except while some Southern chefs got sunny jars of Duke’s inked on their bodies, Williams went in another direction, getting a small Kewpie baby logo tattooed on his hand in celebration of the popular Japanese mayo brand.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to get for a long time,” Williams said. “I’ve always loved Kewpie mayo, and why not get something you love permanently on your body?”

The timing of the mayo tattoo marks Williams’ latest restaurant opening in the Durham Food Hall.

Owner Jen Kremer and chef Williams are opening Corner Yaki. The name refers to the corner food empire Kremer has built in the food hall, starting with Everything Bagels, then buying Napoli Pizza and now opening Corner Yaki in the former Old North Meats & Provisions Space.

Before moving to Durham, Kremer ran multiple bakeries in Philadelphia, she said, but has built her North Carolina food group within arms reach.

“It’s nice to come to work all in one place,” Kremer said. “I like to be hands-on and not stuck in the car.”

Corner Yaki is the first menu Williams wrote largely on his own and said it comes from his own cravings.

“I designed it based on the kinds of food I want to eat all the time,” Williams said.

The opening menu is a medley of popular Japanese dishes. There will be pillowy bao buns with fillings like pork belly, mushrooms, Japanese-style fried chicken or karaage and an play on a California roll with imitation crab.

Dumplings include beef short ribs with dan dan sauce, chicken and ginger, BBQ tempeh and Mapo tofu. There will be bowls of ramen with chicken-based broth or miso and a curry udon. Rounding out the menu will be rice bowls, including a teriyaki chicken and sides like “dashi fries” where french fries are tossed with hondashi powder and yum yum sauce for dipping.

Kremer met Williams when he responded to a Craigslist job posting for Everything Bagels. After working at The Durham Hotel, Williams seemed to match Kremer’s vision for a new bagel shop.

“I had some crazy ideas, but Ray could out-funky me,” Kremer said. “He really dazzled me.”

Since its opening Everything Bagels has been one of the food hall’s most popular vendors, drawing crowds on weekend mornings and baking 1,000 bagels on the busiest days.

After the food hall’s opening, Kremer took over the Napoli Pizzeria and Williams became its chef as well.

Williams says he has a tattoo for each of the three shops now. There’s a bacon, egg and cheese on an everything bagel, a pizza heading into a pizza oven and a bowl of noodles, plus the Kewpie baby.

Corner Yaki looks to open in mid-April, serving lunch and dinner.