Bay Area chef and restaurateur Jerome Ito is debuting “an elevated full-service restaurant and bar with a cafe retail shop for hard-to-find Japanese goods” in Palo Alto, according to the San Francisco Business Times.
“It’s creating space for life and enjoying the moment, really slowing down,” Ito tells the Journal. He adds, “We’re right here in Palo Alto, but we want it to feel like a totally different space when you’re here.”
Taking over a 6,000-square-foot building at 3375 El Camino Real — a spot formerly home to Corner Bakery Cafe — Yutori will land near establishments such as Driftwood Deli & Market, INDO Restaurant & Lounge, and Red Hot Wok.
A reference to a Japanese convenience store experience, Yutori’s retail section “will serve coffee and carry an assortment of Japan-sourced curated goods,” including ceramics, aprons, and knives, “grocery staples, and grab-and-go foods such as onigiri [and] bento.”
The restaurant menu will begin with a brunch section boasting Japanese breakfast items — think hottokeki, or Japanese-style pancakes, and omurice — and lead to a lunch lineup that will include “over half a dozen” sandwich options. Dinner plates will center around seafood and wagyu beef.
“We feel like there’s this huge void where we think we could be appreciated even by people like ourselves,” Ito says.
For readers who are unfamiliar with Ito’s work across the Bay Area, he is best known as the founder of Taro San noodle bar (located at the Stanford Shopping Center) and the fast-casual concept Go Fish poke bar, which has expanded to four outposts.
Yutori is slated to open later this year. Stay tuned for updates.
