Nigerian flavors, egg sandwiches come to S.F.
The Bay Area has had several new restaurant openings in recent weeks. Here are a few of the latest.
In May, chef Simileoluwa Adebajo opened the doors to Eko Kitchen on the heels of a viral tweet when she announced her plans to quit a finance job and bring San Francisco its first Nigerian restaurant.
Located in the South of Market neighborhood, the restaurant permanently occupies Joint Venture Kitchen (167 11th St.), which is otherwise a rotating pop-up space for local food businesses. At this point, Eko Kitchen only operates as a traditional restaurant on the weekends with dinner service Friday and Saturday, and both lunch and dinner Sunday.
Adebajo originally planned to also serve dinner at the restaurant Monday through Thursday, splitting the days with a Mexican food business, but she shifted her focus to catering and delivery after noticing its popularity. The next step, she said, will be to expand to hosting popup versions of the restaurant in other locations across the Bay Area.
Eko Kitchen: 167 11th St.; open 6 to 9 p.m. Friday; 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday; and 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday. 410-344-3362; https:// ekokitchensf.wixsite.com/nomnom — Justin Phillips
What is it about Japanese egg sandwiches that makes an Instagrammer’s heart sing?
Last year, Konbi in Los Angeles basically broke the internet with its egg salad sandwiches, inspired by Japanese convenience-store fare. Now, San Francisco is getting something similar with Ichi Sando, which recently opened in Japan Center.
At Ichi, chef Euijin KimWright specializes in tamago sandwiches. Every morning, she spends at least five hours preparing the delicately layered and rolled omelets in a copper tamago pan from Japan.
The basic version ($9) allows the tamago’s dashi and sweetness to shine between two slices of fluffy white bread from Japan Center neighbor Andersen Bakery. Other options layer tamago with cheese, prosciutto or cod roe.
Ichi Sando takes over the former space of soft-serve shop Aube Creamery, which closed after just seven months in business at the end of 2018. Ichi still serves sweets: strawberries-and-cream sandwiches on Japanese milk bread and ice cream churned in a gelato machine so it’s extra dense, in flavors like black sesame, chocolate and green tea. There’s also milk tea.
Ichi Sando: 1581 Webster St., Suite 150, San Francisco. Open 2 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday through Sunday. — Janelle Bitker
San Francisco’s ever-growing list of sushi spots featuring fixed-price omakase menus has welcomed a new addition: Sushi Nagai in Union Square. With a 15course menu that will range from $200 to $250, it’s set to be one of the most expensive restaurants in the city. That’s especially true when it comes to omakase, a style of Japanese dining in which the customer eats only from an elaborate tasting menu created by the chef.
The new restaurant is more expensive than Michelinstarred Ju-Ni, which costs $165 per person, and Omakase at $195 per person. Only Mint Plaza’s Hashiri, which starts at $250 per person and has a chef’s table menu for $500, tops its price.
Sushi Nagai specializes in edomae, widely considered the purest style of sushi. The seafood on the menu is shipped from Tokyo’s famed Toyosu fish market, which is part of the reason the restaurant plans to change its offerings every week or so. In May, one of the 15-course menus included Hotaru ika (firefly squid), shima-aji (Japanese “striped jack”) and katsuo (skipjack tuna).
The restaurant is operated by Tomonori Nagai, a sushi chef whose career included stints in Hawaii, New York and Singapore, the latter stop being in the kitchen of Michelin-starred Shinji by Kanasaka.
Sushi Nagai: 125 Ellis St., San Francisco. Open 6 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; 415-658-7371; www.sushinagaisf.com; reservations available via phone or through Resy.com — Justin Phillips