2 Asian hot spots coming to Concord
The Veranda, the still-growing upscale retail center along Interstate 680 in Concord, has two more trendsetting Southern California restaurants in the works.
Shabuya specializes in the Japanese hot pot cookery known as shabu-shabu — a trend that’s sweeping Los Angeles one sizzling bowl at a time. You pick your meat (maybe wagyu beef, pork belly, lamb, chicken), your seafood (shrimp, scallops, octopus, mussels) and vegetables and drop them into a sizzling bowl of broth. Eat and repeat — for this is an all-you-can-eat restaurant.
After opening three locations in SoCal, Shabuya will make Concord its first NorCal outpost sometime late in 2018. Details: www.shabuya.net.
The popular Silverlake Ramen also is making its way north. According to Eater LA, this Sunset Boulevard restaurant had such long lines that a nearby to-go eatery had to be created.
Silverlake touts its traditional ramen made with natural ingredients. There’s the classic tonkotsu, a spicy version called Blaze, a chicken shoyu version, a vegan miso one and the creamy pork-and-fish dipping ramen, tsukemen. What if it’s too hot outside to eat ramen? Their mazemen features cold noodles (no broth!) with pork, egg, herbs and spices.
Look for an opening in late summer or early fall. Details: www.silverlakeramen.com.
Mountain Mike’s Pizza returns to Los Gatos
After an absence of several years, Mountain Mike’s Pizza has returned to Los Gatos.
The pizza company, which was founded in Palo Alto in 1978, now has nearly 200 locations in California, Nevada, Oregon and Utah.
In Los Gatos, Mountain Mike’s has taken over a former pizza eatery in the Walgreens Square Shopping Center at the corner of Blossom Hill and Harwood roads. The company has added big-screen TVs and children’s arcade games.
Mountain Mike’s specializes in making pizzas on dough made from scratch in-house (gluten free is available) and boasts that its large pepperoni pizza is topped with nearly 100 pieces of pepperoni. The restaurant also offers boneless and bonein wings, garlic sticks, jalapeño poppers and a salad bar.
In other news, a Belmont location on El Camino Real has just been remodeled and reopened, and a Mountain Mike’s will be coming soon to American Canyon.
The Los Gatos restaurant served from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and until 9 p.m. Sunday at 14080 Blossom Hill Road. 408-2127800; www.mountainmikespizza. com.
Chef Preeti Mistry closes Navi Kitchen in Emeryville
Six months after shutting down her celebrated Juhu Beach Club, chef Preeti Mistry has closed her second restaurant, Navi Kitchen in Emeryville.
The news was announced July 1 on the kitchen’s Instagram feed, the San Francisco Chronicle first reported.
“We are closed. Thank you for your patronage,” the note reads. “We are grateful for your patronage and support to bring something new to our neighborhood. Together we raised thousands of dollars for Destiny Arts, Planting Justice and Black Lives
Matter through sales of tikka masala mac & cheese to warming bowls of dal.
“We’ve decided to close and move on to other things in our lives. Thank you for supporting and enjoying Navi Kitchen.”
The announcement was signed by Mistry and her partner/spouse, Ann Nadeau.
The restaurant had opened in 2017 in the Bakery Lofts in Emeryville, a work/ live/retail project constructed at a former commercial bakery, Remar.
“I think it’s a great space,” Mistry later told Eater SF. “I just don’t think what we were doing was working there.”
The chef who charmed Anthony Bourdain with her creative dishes back when he filmed “Parts Unknown” in the Bay Area had operated Juhu for five years. During that time she released her first cookbook, “The Juhu Beach Club Cookbook: Indian Spice, Oakland Soul.”
Stay tuned for updates on what’s next for the Mistry-Juhu team.