|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Silicon Valley has no shortage of omakase restaurants, but newcomer Ezo Omakase aims to stand out from the competition with traditional Edomae-style offerings.
“I think I’ve tried every single omakase in the Bay Area,” co-owner Darren Yu said. “There are some good ones, and the most Edomae-style that I’ve tried (say) they’re Edomae, but they’re not really … They’re just saying it to catch the market.”
Ezo Omakase quietly opened in May and is still in its soft-opening phase. Chef Yuichiro Sasaki, the chef of Sushi Punch in Tokyo, serves as co-owner and chief culinary officer of Ezo Omakase. Sasaki grew up in Hokkaido and has been a chef for a decade, specializing in sardine and monkfish liver. After opening Sushi Punch in 2019, he dreamed of creating another omakase restaurant in Los Angeles, but Yu convinced him to set his sights on the Bay Area.
“I ate in a lot of expensive sushi restaurants in Japan, and … I really think Sushi Punch is doing it right,” Yu said. “Also the way Sasaki-san interacts with the customer is perfect … customers are having fun when they’re eating at his restaurant.”
In Edomae omakase, seafood is prepared through aging, curing or marinating (rather than plain sashimi) and served over vinegared rice. Modern interpretations of omakase that include ingredients such as wagyu are not in the Edomae style. Sasaki only uses wild-caught fish, with his apprentice selecting fish for Ezo at Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo.
“The preparation is exactly the same to what I do in Japan at Sushi Punch,” Sasaki said. “Just the location is different, but (the) taste is exactly (the) same.”
Ezo Omakase, which seats 32, offers a 16-18 course dinner for $220 per person (plus a 20% service charge) with seatings at 5:15 p.m. and 8 p.m. Reservations are required and an optional sake pairing is available for an additional $80 per person. In addition to sake, expect Champagne, beer, wine and rare Japanese whiskeys.
Ezo Omakase shares an address with new coffee shop Void, which soft opened July 27. Ezo Omakase is the latest in a string of new Silicon Valley omakase openings: Sushi Adachi, led by Masaki Sasaki, opened in Mountain View in March ($200 per person); Sushi Kinsen debuted in Redwood City in October ($235 per person); and Ren Omakase opened in Menlo Park about a year ago ($250 per person).
Ezo Omakase, 3540 La Rambla Ave., Santa Clara; 408-431-6639, Instagram: @omakase.ezo. Open Friday to Sunday from 5-10:30 p.m. Seatings at 5:15 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Dig into food news. Follow the Peninsula Foodist on Instagram and subscribe to the newsletter to get insights on the latest openings and closings, learn what the Foodist is excited about eating, read exclusive interviews and keep up on the trends affecting local restaurants.
