New Japanese Cocktail Bar and Restaurant Yokai Opens in Downtown San Francisco

For 4 years, chef Marc Zimmerman’s Michelin Information-listed Gozu restaurant has been a luxurious vacation spot for wagyu steak served nearly any means you possibly can think about. However as of right this moment, September 15, diners can get a style of the chef’s talent in cooking over dwell fireplace at his new — and notably extra informal — restaurant and bar Yokai. “The concept with that is it’s our model of, principally, a bar and grill with somewhat bit extra thought put into every space,” Zimmerman says.

Zimmerman first introduced plans for the Japanese-inspired listening bar in summer time 2022, sharing that he’d be taking on the previous Salt Home Restaurant house at 545 Mission Avenue, about 4 blocks from Gozu. Yokai is the newest in a string of Japanese-style listening bars to open within the Bay Space, becoming a member of Harlan Information, additionally in downtown San Francisco, and Bar Shiru in Oakland, which opened in 2019.

The chef says the house impressed the idea for Yokai. The constructing the place the restaurant resides is the primary everlasting construction constructed on Mission Avenue following the 1906 earthquake and retains historic design particulars together with cold-riveted metal columns that predate the Golden Gate Bridge and excessive ceilings with picket beams. He labored with architect Andrea Lendardin Madden, proprietor of the ALM Venture, and enterprise associate Ben Jorgensen on the undertaking, each of whom additionally helped convey Gozu into existence in 2019. The chef hunted down a set of classic Seventies-era JBL Professional Sequence studio audio system for the sound system, which can spin primarily jazz — although “not your dad’s jazz,” the chef notes, namechecking artists together with Miles David and John Coltrane.

As for the meals, Zimmerman says he and chef de delicacies Jessie Lugo take the identical detail-oriented strategy that’s made Gozu one of many metropolis’s prime locations for steak lovers however apply it to a extra approachable menu. “I believe we’re doing the identical factor that we all the time do and making an attempt to have our finger on the heart beat of what individuals are searching for,” he says, specifically a la carte choices and smaller, sharable plates. The guts of the menu is a number of grilled skewers. Within the kitchen, the chef put in a bevy of various grills to mess around with together with a Spanish parilla the place they’ll prepare dinner over wooden (Zimmerman is pondering pink oak and mesquite) or charcoal; a charcoal-fired oven they’ll use for roasting fish and larger cuts of meat; two yakitori packing containers that’ll be fueled by binchotan charcoal; and a double-stacked rotation mixture oven.

They’ll pair the assorted grill choices with the components in hand based mostly on the flavors they’re aiming to create. The menu consists of sticks piled with Wolfe Ranch quail, Spanish octopus, Sonoma duck, and scallops; the chef says they’ll even have each skewers, sides, and entrees that function greens for many who keep away from animal proteins. Bigger format dishes embrace the Yokai burger, which may be ordered with or with out the addition of wasabi Thousand Island and native sea urchin; barbecued oxtail; and a 20-ounce dry-aged bone-in ribeye.

Beverage director Jordan Abraham has a lineup of Japanese and American spirits stocked behind the bar, which is focusing “loosely” on highballs, Zimmerman says. They’re constructing out signature drinks that play on the format of spirit-plus-ice-plus-something-carbonated and can work on a line of home infusions to spherical issues out.

Zimmerman says he’s hopeful this extra informal restaurant — one which doesn’t require diners to decide to a two or three-hour meal on the set value of $225 — will attraction to a eating public that appears hungry for high quality meals in a extra relaxed setting. He is aware of downtown San Francisco would possibly seem to be a dangerous place to put money into a brand new enterprise, however he’s hopeful Yokai will turn out to be a go-to spot for a burger and cocktail after work, joyful hour, date nights, and dinners with shoppers. “We’re right here,” Zimmerman says of downtown, “and we’re dedicated to it long-term.”

Not like at Gozu, the place refining dishes earlier than they get added to the menu can take weeks of R+D, Zimmerman additionally says he’s excited to have a brand new inventive outlet through Yokai’s extra nimble menu. “There is a sure factor that’s fantastically enjoyable about getting an electronic mail out of your native fisherman saying, ‘Hey, I’ve obtained native halibut,’ and saying, ‘OK, let’s do halibut,’” he says.

Yokai (545 Mission Avenue, San Francisco) opens on Friday, September 15, and can serve meals and drinks Tuesday by way of Saturday from 3 to 9 p.m. Stroll-ins are accepted, although reservations are really useful and may be made through Tock.