Category Archives: Restaurants

The Personalized Touch at Ju-Ni

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The hand-roll filled with every fish you've had earlier that night at Ju-Ni.
The hand-roll filled with every fish you’ve had earlier that night at Ju-Ni.

The name of San Francisco’s Ju-Ni restaurant means “12” in Japanese. But nowadays, it might as well be called Ju-Roku or “16.”

When Executive Chef Geoffrey Lee and business partner Tan Truong opened it in 2016, Ju-Ni indeed featured three sushi chefs for 12 guests (or one chef per four guests). But with its popularity, the omakase restaurant, which held a Michelin star for four years, decided to add one more sushi chef to now accommodate a total of 16 guests.

If you dine in a foursome as I did recently, it’s ideal because it means you get your own sushi chef for the entirety of the meal, whom you can converse with easily.

At Ju-Ni, one sushi chef serves every four diners.
At Ju-Ni, one sushi chef serves every four diners.

The 14-course omakase is $198 per person, and it must be prepaid when you make your reservation online. When you arrive at the restaurant, you can add beverages and any additional items on offer.

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Warm Up At Flaming Ox

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Braised pork belly with rice at Flaming Ox.
Braised pork belly with rice at Flaming Ox.

In these challenging economic times when people fume at the price of a fast-food burger meal, they ought to consider that for not much more, they can sit down to a far more flavorful, nutritious, and soulfully satisfying dish at a place like Flaming Ox in San Jose.

For about $16 to $18, you can enjoy a Taiwanese specialty rice or noodle bowl in a sizeable portion that’s sure to warm you through and through, which is what I found when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant recently.

On the wall at the restaurant.
On the wall at the restaurant.

The casual cafe opened 10 months ago in the same strip mall as City Sports Club on East Brokaw Road. It is the brainchild of Eric Chung, a chef of Taiwanese heritage, who was a former lead chef cooking Asian food at Apple in Cupertino before launching his food trucks.

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Delights at Dalida

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The showy black cod at Dalida in San Francisco.
The showy black cod at Dalida in San Francisco.

There’s no denying that Chef Laura Ozyilmaz is tough, having fought her way back from elimination on “Top Chef’‘ to win “Last Chance Kitchen” to gain another shot at victory.

In the end, she may not have won the overall competition, making it as far as one of the last four competitors standing. But she won over many fans for her gumption and creative dishes. That she did all this while in the midst of opening Dalida in San Francisco, her restaurant with her chef-husband Sayat Ozilmaz, makes it doubly impressive.

Even before “Top Chef,” Dalida was a hard reservation to come by. It’s easy to see why, when you consider that this Eastern Mediterranean restaurant was opened by two chefs with impressive pedigrees.

The open kitchen.
The open kitchen.

The couple met while studying at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Sayat, originally from Turkey, went on to work at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York, Le Bernardin in New York City, and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, while Laura worked at Cafe Boulud in New York City, Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Eleven Madison Park in New York City, Del Posto in New York City, and Saison in San Francisco.

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The Showy New Eos & Nyx Electrifies Downtown San Jose

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An amuse of teeny tuna tartare cones greets every diner at the new Eos & Nyx.
An amuse of teeny tuna tartare cones greets every diner at the new Eos & Nyx.

These days, when you hear of a splashy new restaurant opening its doors, you’ll be forgiven if your thoughts automatically go to San Francisco, Wine Country, or even Palo Alto.

Eos & Nyx, however, is not in any of those places, but rather in downtown San Jose.

Previously a movie theater, the soaring space has been transformed into a glitzy, two-story, 4,000-square-foot Mediterranean restaurant. Fifteen months in the making, it was designed by San Diego’s Basile Studio, which also did California’s Puesto restaurants, including the one in Santa Clara.

The entrance in downtown San Jose.
The entrance in downtown San Jose.
The stylish dining room.
The stylish dining room.
The view from the second floor.
The view from the second floor.

Appropriately named for the Greek goddesses of day and night, Eos & Nyx takes on a different personality from brunch (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays) to dinner (Tuesday through Saturday). During the day, when the weather is warm, the floor-to-ceiling, garage-door front windows can be raised to bring the outdoors in, bathing the leafy dining room adorned with lifelike fake trees and even river rocks underneath the booths with tons of natural light. At night, the vibe is more Vegas-like with moodier lighting that makes the copper accents glimmer and the back-lighted bar stand out.

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Japan Eats, Part II: Michelin-Starred Koke

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Playful squid-ink crackers filled with chorizo at Michelin-starred Koke in Kyoto.
Playful squid-ink crackers filled with chorizo at Michelin-starred Koke in Kyoto.

Kyoto, JAPAN — One can eat exceedingly well for little in Japan, and goodness knows that my husband and I did. However, we decided to splurge for one dinner during our recent two-week trip to Japan, and that was to Michelin-starred Koke in Kyoto.

Japan is a dichotomy, where both the ancient and the futuristic are revered. So, when it came to picking a kaiseki restaurant, I chose one that breaks from tradition, one that blends Japanese and Spanish sensibilities in surprising ways.

It serves a 13-course tasting menu with a few of the courses composed of several small bites. You can opt for a regular wine pairing (a total of 700ml) or a small-sized pairing (350ml). The latter is what my husband and I chose.

For all food and drink for the two of us, we paid a grand total of $515 U.S., which is not too bad when you consider that in the Bay Area, many fine-dining tasting menus are easily more than $300 per person for the food alone without gratuity.

The unobtrusive sign to the restaurant.
The unobtrusive sign to the restaurant.
The courtyard that you enter before going inside the restaurant.
The courtyard that you enter before going inside the restaurant.

The restaurant hides behind a wall. On the other side, you’ll find a serene Japanese-style courtyard with a floor-to-ceiling window at one end that has a view into the restaurant’s dining room and kitchen. Koke is the Japanese word for “moss” and you’ll spot patches of it in the courtyard. It’s also a symbol of renewal, resilience, and interconnectedness.

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