Yuji Ramen Opens Campaign to Start a Restaurant Yuji Haraguchi, whose Smorgasburg stand, Yuji Ramen, is popular for its "mazemen" or "dry ramen," which is more of a stir-fry than soup, has announced a series of five-course omakase (chef's choice) ramen dinners, to be held upstairs at Whole Foods, 95 East Houston Street (Bowery) from mid-March through May. Since last year, Whole Foods has been in partnership with Smorgasburg, the open-air food festival in Williamsburg's East River waterfront, to feature various market vendors at a kiosk in its Bowery store for a few weeks at a time. Mr. Haraguchi plans to use his turn at Whole Foods to begin a campaign to raise money for a restaurant through Kickstarter, the crowd-sourced financing Web site. Here's the deal: those who contribute $75 to Mr. Haraguchi's Kickstarter campaign will receive one seat at one of the dinners at the Yuji Ramen Whole Foods kiosk; $120 gets you two seats. Bigger investments will involve other perks. Tickets for the dinners also can be purchased for $40 through e-mail, ramenomakase@gmail.com, or at Mr. Haraguchi's stand at Whole Foods in March. Tickets purchased on Kickstarter, however, will be given priority. The dinners will be on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, with one seating at 8 p.m. for six people. Additional seatings and days will be offered according to demand.