The popular Uptown Oakland restaurant Hopscotch (1915 San Pablo Avenue), and its chef Kyle Itani, are getting a spinoff in the form of Itani Ramen (1738 Telegraph Avenue). As Inside Scoop reports, Itani is fourth-generation Japanese-American and ramen has always been close to his heart. And Itani Ramen will be his solo project, without the help of his Hopscotch partners.

Itani plans to remain the full-time executive chef of Hopscotch, but he's excited to open this side project sometime later this year, offering Tokyo-style ramen for both lunch and dinner, featuring dashi- and fish-based broths (which he prefers), as well as the heavier pork tonkotsu style.

The ramen spot is just a few blocks from Hopscotch's Uptown location.

This will be downtown/uptown Oakland's first dedicated ramen spot, following on the runaway success of two-year-old Ramen Shop in Rockridge.