Chef KC Gonzalez served his first bowls of ramen at pop-ups across North Jersey. He called the operation Tenmomi. Eventually, he moved into a “ghost kitchen” space in Nutley, where he dished out brothy bowls of noodles and pork buns in a takeout-only concept. Then came his ghost kitchen in Upper Bergen County, set in the back of a Westwood Italian joint. Today, after more than four years and thousands of bowls of ramen, KC gets the keys to his first brick-and-mortar spot.
Tenmomi will open in Rutherford—the same town where KC first started doing pop-ups back in 2022. He’s spent the past four years perfecting his Pinoy-inspired ramen, all while perusing North Jersey for a place to call his own. He finally found it when a space opened up inside the Williams Center, a popular music venue and event space on Park Ave that has gone through a similar evolution of its own over the past half decade.
Tenmomi at the Williams Center will be open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays. In addition to his usual takeout- and delivery-focused model, Tenmomi will shift to being a full-service, fast-casual restaurant as well. Twenty-eight seats might not seem like much, but for a chef who has made do with the smallest spaces imaginable, it’s a dream come true.
Chef KC’s ramen is notably different from other popular spots in the area. He puts an insane amount of time into the broth—chicken stock is a two-day process, while his specialty tonkotsu (pork bone broth) sees Berkshire pork bones simmer for more than a day before he “ages” it in the walk-in for nine days. Yes, nine.
He tells me aging the soup is paramount to the final product. “If you don’t age it, you just get pork flavor,” he said. “But by allowing it to sit and develop, it’s almost like sourdough. You get this funk with it.” KC has even outlined and showcased this process on his YouTube channel. The soup that lands in the bowl is deeply flavorful, with a silky mouthfeel that sets it apart.
Alongside Japanese classics, you’ll notice heavy Filipino influence across the menu. Sinigang Ramen—KC admits it’s his favorite soup of all time—centers around a broth made from chicken and pork bones, tomatoes, onions, fish sauce, and tamarind. Confit pork, blanched green beans, and chewy noodles send it home. The result is a sour and savory soup—probably unlike anything you’ve had.
“My take on ramen, and the flavors I use, are definitely mixed with my Pinoy heritage,” he told me. But the menu goes way beyond just ramen. There’s a globe-spanning theme you’ll quickly pick up on. The chicken sandwich is entirely Japanese-focused. The wings employ Chinese cooking methods and Korean sauces. The burgers—an entirely new venture for Tenmomi—are 100% red-white-and-blue American, baby. That means two crispy smashed patties, American cheese, and special sauce on a fluffy potato bun.
Loaded fries, pan-fried dumplings, chicken skewers, and pork lumpia are among the small-bite options on the new Tenmomi menu. Items across the entire menu feature his signature Drama Oil—a flavorful burnt garlic-and-chili oil that KC developed for ramen and now sells in his online shop.
The brick-and-mortar Tenmomi marks a notable change of pace for Chef KC. He’s going from a takeout-only, one-man show to a full-service spot with a staff, in an area rife with foot traffic. No longer are the days of him cooped up in a catering kitchen, operating on a word-of-mouth basis.
Soon, Tenmomi will be known to the masses.
Tenmomi will open on March 2 in the downstairs space of the Williams Center. It brings Filipino-inspired ramen, sandwiches, burgers, chicken skewers, and more to downtown Rutherford.
Peter Candia is the Food + Drink Editor at New Jersey Digest. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Peter found a passion for writing midway through school and never looked back. He is a former line cook, server and bartender at top-rated restaurants in the tri-state area. In addition to food, Peter enjoys politics, music, sports and anything New Jersey.
