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Since its Palo Alto debut in April, Japanese food emporium Yutori has drawn long lines for its cafe, and its Japanese garden-inspired outdoor seating has become a buzzy spot for taking meetings and socializing. On Thursday, Yutori soft opened the final component of the project, adding on a full-service restaurant and bar to its location at 3375 El Camino Real, in the Ventura neighborhood.
Yutori’s restaurant offers elevated, modern takes on traditional Japanese dishes as well as a bar program inspired by Japanese ingredients and drink culture. The restaurant and bar is currently open for dinner only, with brunch service expected to begin in the spring. Featuring a Scandinavian Japanese look similar to the cafe and konbini, the restaurant seats 72, with an additional 30 on the outdoor patio.
Chef-owner Jerome Ito, who is also behind Go Fish Poke Bar and Taro San Japanese Noodle Bar, said that Yutori’s first five months of opening was “wild (and) unexpected.”
“We knew we would do somewhat well … but I don’t think we knew exactly how well it would start off,” he said, noting that the high demand actually prevented the team from rolling out brunch service first. Yutori has one central kitchen space, so trying to run operations for both the konbini and full-service brunch at the same time would be challenging, he said. So the team adapted and launched dinner instead.
The dinner menu is succinct, featuring 15 dishes, with small plates priced at $19-$36 and large plates from $34-$98. To start, Ito recommends the nikkei ceviche, a Japanese take on a Peruvian classic with blue-fine tuna, salmon and local halibut tossed in black sesame-yuzu leche de tigre and served with taro root chips ($32).
“Doing Go Fish and everything, and as a sushi chef background, fish was always true to my heart and what I like to do, so this is just another take of something I have not done on any of my menus,” Ito said.
The seafood pasta with lobster, clams, scallops, and mentaiko ($58) is inspired by Japanese Italian food, which melds Italian techniques with Japanese ingredients. The dish is made with lobster stock and dashi sourced from Dashi Okume, a 150-year-old Japanese dashi company, and is finished with shiso.
Other standout dishes include the chawanmushi with blue crab, scallop and shellfish dashi glaze ($22), optionally topped with Umai caviar for an additional $15; the shiro miso eggplant with soba crunch and whipped goma tofu ($22); and a 3-ounce cut of Japanese A5 Shinshu Wagyu served with daikon oroshi, house ponzu with an egg yolk and freshly grated wasabi ($98).
“We’re trying to take some traditional dishes to the next level, just our spin on it,” Ito said.
The dessert menu, created by pastry chef Janet Tong, features a sudachi key lime tarte, hojicha Earl Grey tiramisu and nama chocolate ($12-$15).
The bar director for Yutori is Francisco Carranza, whose prior experience includes Viridian in Oakland, Pacific Cocktail Haven in San Francisco and Roses on Adeline in Berkeley.
“Everything starts with the ingredient, fresh as possible first, and then I build from there,” he said.
The Ume Chuhai was the first cocktail Carranza developed for Yutori’s menu, inspired by Ito’s housemade umeshu, a Japanese liqueur made from unripe green plum. Carranza combined the umeshu with shochu, elderflower and tonic to create a highball ($18).
The Melon Cream Soda is what Carranza describes as his “little baby.” Bright green and topped with a generous amount of vanilla ice cream whip, the Melon Cream Soda is made from pisco, Midori, honeydew, soda and lemon ($18).
“It’s supposed to be simple, and it’s supposed to be kitschy,” he said. “I want it to be fun, and I don’t want it to be overly complex.”
Another personal favorite of Carranza is the Hannya, a twist on a margarita made with coconut fat-washed tequila, mezcal, kombu, pineapple, sudachi and yuzu bitters.
Forgoing hiring a designer, Ito and his wife, Linh Tran-Ito, curated the restaurant’s aesthetics based on their personal preferences, closely mimicking the aesthetic of their own house, Ito said. It features natural wood, Japanese maples and a white marble-topped bar with green tiles. The restaurant also has an open kitchen design, with a four-seat chef’s table closest to the action.
“As a sushi chef, I’ve always been in front of my guests, so I always like to be able to conversate, talk to people, explain things,” Ito said.
Co-owner Lily Peng said that she and Ito had been searching for the perfect location to open Yutori for nearly three years, and while they initially were worried about a lack of foot traffic on El Camino Real, the community has really shown up for Yutori.
“We want people to come in the morning for their coffee, come for lunch and grab-and-go, and then come and celebrate a birthday at night,” she said.
Yutori plans to host its grand opening in late October or early November, Ito said, noting his “overall goal is to have a space that locals can come to, and not just locals, but we wanted to do something cool in the Bay Area.”
Yutori, 3375 El Camino Real, Palo Alto; 650-764-0110, Instagram: @yutori_pa. Konbini market open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cafe open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Restaurant and bar open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 5:30-9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 5:30-10 p.m.
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