Acclaimed strip mall high quality eating restaurant Kaiseki Saryo Hachi is transferring to Saratoga
Kaiseki Saryo Hachi, one of the Bay Area’s rare kaiseki restaurants, is set to move from its current home in a mall in Burlingame to a new eatery in Saratoga next year.
Husband and wife Shinichi Aoki and Yuko Nammo have taken over a tiny room in 14417 Big Basin Way, where they plan to move their gourmet restaurant in July. They’re building an intimate space with no more than eight counter seats and a couple of tables for more direct interaction between customers and Aoki, the former chef at San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Hashiri. He will continue to serve an ever-changing selection of sophisticated dishes using both Japanese and local produce, from tender baby abalone to poached tomatoes with blanched English peas.
The Chronicle’s restaurant critic, Soleil Ho, called Kaiseki Saryo Hachi a true hidden gem with Michelin-starred culinary art: “Imagine going into a neighborhood café and finding Alain Ducasse cooking behind the counter.”
Kaiseki is a multi-course Japanese menu that highlights seasonality and different cooking techniques, from steaming to grilling. Reservations for Kaiseki Saryo Hachi’s one-night seating are selling out fast.
Duck, sweet potato, shiitake mushroom, eel and other dishes are served at Kaiseki Saryo Hachi in Burlingame.
Carolyn Fong / Special on The Chronicle
Nammo said they felt a bit limited in the burlingame room, which was originally their ramen restaurant and is not meant to function entirely as a kaiseki spot. They switched to making kaiseki when Aoki lost his job during the pandemic. The couple have always wanted to design their dream kaiseki restaurant but were “so used to being turned down by landlords looking for tenants with deeper pockets before the coronavirus,” Nammo said. You stumbled upon the new room on a recent trip to Saratoga; The landlord happened to be there when they passed and was ready to pick them up in the face of retail vacancies forced by a pandemic, Nammo said. Before purchasing the new premises, the couple had spent time in Saratoga and visited Hakone Gardens in Japan. Nammo also made Japanese macarons there for tea ceremonies.
The couple plan to decorate the new space with local wood, as well as Japanese ceramics and antiques they have collected over the years. Saratoga restaurant will have a new name, likely Aoki, but the couple have not yet made up their minds.
Kaiseki Saryo Hachi will continue in his current space until they can open in Saratoga. They treat it as a kind of pop-up, experimenting with different dishes to see what goes down with customers and what they should bring to the new place. Last week they served an entire menu dedicated to the specialty of premium Japanese prawns.
Elena Kadvany is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ekadvany
