Tag Archives: Cow Hollow restaurant

A Taste of Nikkei Cuisine at Kaiyo

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Grilled octopus at the new Kaiyo in San Francisco.

Grilled octopus at the new Kaiyo in San Francisco.

 

Just what is Nikkei cuisine? It’s the cross-cultural deliciousness that results when Japanese immigrants meld their traditional cooking with that of their new adopted land.

Kaiyo, which opened in September in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow neighborhood, takes influence from the journey of Japanese immigrants in Peru. That’s why ceviche and tiradito are as prominent on the menu as nigiri and spicy miso lobster soup.

Chef Michelle Matthews, formerly of Whitechapel in San Francisco, the restaurant’s sister establishment, heads the kitchen here.

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant. The narrow, hip restaurant is dominated by a long, marble bar backlighted in blue. On the other wall of the dining room is a dramatic 35-foot-long living moss wall by Planted Design that you can’t help but want to put a finger on to touch it.

The front doors can be opened up completely, blurring the indoors with the outdoors.

The front doors can be opened up completely, blurring the indoors with the outdoors.

The restaurant has been open less than a month, but already was packed on the Saturday night I was there.

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Contrada Delivers On Pasta, Pizza and A Good Time

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Chef Jason Tuley with his wood-fired pizza oven in the background at Contrada.

Chef Jason Tuley with his wood-fired pizza oven in the background at Contrada.

 

On an early Saturday evening in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow neighborhood, people were still making their way to bars and restaurants.

But one place was already bustling and nearly full — Contrada.

It’s easy to see why. The Italian restaurant, which opened in January, is the kind of place that’s easy to go to and easy to like. On that Saturday, when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant, there were groups of hipster guys, families with toddlers, gal groups, and everything in between. It’s the kind of place you head to when you’re meeting friends for a casual night out or want an old-standby, where you know you’ll leave satisfied.

The long, slender restaurant boasts a walnut bar, antique mirrors and reclaimed wood panels on the walls that sort of look like a Jenga game gone wild. There’s a patio in the back, too, where you can dine al fresco on a nice summer night.

The bar area at the entrance.

The bar area at the entrance.

Artful reclaimed wood on the walls.

Artful reclaimed wood on the walls.

Chef Jason Tuley, late of TBD in San Francisco, and Picco Restaurant and Pizzeria in Larkspur, oversees the kitchen. The pastas are made in-house in the production room downstairs. And the pizzas cooked in the wood-fired Italian oven.

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