A veteran sushi restaurateur is bringing a new chef-driven concept, Iki Omakase, to Palo Alto’s high-end downtown retail corridor.
Sunny Noah, the man behind Iki Omakase, is managing owner (one of four co-owners) at esteemed sushi restaurant Tancho in Castro Valley, opened in 2021, and also worked at the short-lived Sushi Nagai, which Forbes dubbed in 2020 “San Francisco’s best new omakase sushi restaurant.” The new restaurant will take over the roughly 1,060-square-foot space at 460 Ramona St., currently home to Chinese spot Garden Fresh, just off of Palo Alto’s destination retail drag along University Avenue.
Leasing arrangements were handled by David Sass, senior vice president at Kidder Matthews, on behalf of the two-story building’s owner Young Kang.
Noah is one of three owners of the upcoming restaurant. He declined to name the head chef at this time — the selection still needs to be finalized, he said — but he is close to bringing on board a talented young chef who hails from the Bay Area.
“From my decade-long experience working with many Michelin-starred sushi chefs, I could quietly tell you that he is probably one of the best sushi omakase chefs under 40 in the Bay Area, from my point of view,” Noah said.
Noah told me this week that Iki Omakase will combine traditional and contemporary techniques, resulting in a “San Francisco Bay” sushi with the Edomae style “at its core.” Edomae, which evolved as a freshness-preservation technique in the pre-refrigeration 1600s, typically involves marinating the seafood in salt, vinegar or soy sauce.
As for the restaurant’s name, iki (pronounced ik-ki) refers to a Japanese concept of understated but highly refined aesthetic; the opposite of ostentation. Noah said he hopes the restaurant will cultivate in its guests an appreciation for sushi visually — like they would a piece of art — as well as for the taste.
In both San Francisco and Castro Valley, Noah collaborated with acclaimed Japanese-born sushi chef Tomonari Nagai, whose own resume includes the kitchens of Michelin-starred chefs Masaharu Morimoto in Honolulu and Shinji Kanesaka in Singapore. Nagai is not involved with the Palo Alto project, however.
At Tancho the menu is primarily omakase, or “chef’s choice,” with typical reservations starting at $125.
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