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Nikolas Neuwirt, aka Chef Nik, describes himself as “super outdoorsy, like almost to a fault.” He dives, fishes and forages, so it’s no wonder that his love of exploring the great outdoors comes through in the food at Kappo, an intimate new Californian fine-dining restaurant with Japanese influences at Stanford Shopping Center, where Neuwirt is the executive chef.Â
Kappo’s cuisine is all about premium ingredients and local seasonality (a press release describes Neuwirt’s menus as “nature-forward” and “inspired by California’s landscape.”) Neuwirt previously worked in Europe as well as San Francisco restaurants Prelude and Michelin-starred Birdsong and Niku Steakhouse. Prelude and Niku are both part of Omakase Restaurant Group, which is also behind Kappo and the fast-casual dim sum chain Dumpling Time.Â
Kappo is located right next to Dumpling Time’s Stanford Shopping Center outpost and offers counter seating for 12 with an open kitchen, giving guests an up-close view of the food being prepared.
“I wanted to do a little bit more high-touch, more close-and-personal with the food, more close to the guests,” Neuwirt said of why he took the leap from San Francisco to the Peninsula. “It just so happened our corporate chef Dustin (Falcon) came up to me and said, ‘Hey I have this little opportunity here at Stanford.’ I jumped right at it as soon as I could.”
Kappo soft opened in November and officially opens Dec. 3. According to the press release, menu options will include a nonalcoholic beverage pairing ($75), a “traditional beverage progression” featuring an all-California selection ($85), and a reserve Californian pairing of vintage wines, beers and sakes ($150). Kappo can accommodate most dietary restrictions – guests are advised to email or call when booking.
The seven-course chef’s tasting menu ($140) will evolve often, but customers can expect bright flavors and an emphasis on local produce, fermentation and live-fire cooking, Neuwirt said. Preserved seasonal ingredients will also be used throughout the year.Â
“A lot of the summer’s bounty is kind of coming back around,” he said, such as pepper and tomato preserves, which he can pair with ingredients that come into season in the fall and winter. “We have a sweet Jimmy Nardello (pepper) chili crunch that we’re mixing in with spiny lobster, topping it with citrus lace, then we’ll serve it all in the carapace of the spiny lobster itself, and then we’ll probably do aromatization of herbs underneath it so that you kind of have that wafting aroma of the herbs below,” he said of one of his current favorite dishes.
Seaweeds are a favorite ingredient, especially when Neuwirt can harvest them himself, travelling down to the Monterey Bay region to collect them.
“The ocean just gives you seaweeds; after a rough day at sea, it just rips up seaweeds naturally and just puts them right on shore,” he said, noting that seaweeds are also seasonal and varied. There is a limit on how much can be collected at one time, he added, “which means we have to go a little more often, but, I mean, who doesn’t love going to the California coast?”
Seaweed ramen, a recipe he’s developed over the past few years, is one of his signature dishes.
“Essentially, the idea is switching out the ramen noodles and replacing them with seaweed cut into strands,” he said. (Kappo’s current menu features seaweed soup with squash miso.)
Neuwirt also loves foraging for fungi and edible plants and preserving them for future use.
“I foraged those mushrooms up there in the jars; they’re slowly going to work their way into the menu,” he said at a recent interview at Kappo. “(It’s) game on for mushroom season, so I’ll be going on my days off.”
Coniferous trees also provide inspirational foraging material that could find its way to Kappo’s menu eventually. When in season in the spring, pine tips and pollen offer a delightfully citrusy punch without bitter tannins for dishes like pine-pollen ice cream, Neuwirt said.
He sees Kappo as a place where he can utilize the various techniques he’s learned throughout his career, from his time in Europe to being mentored by Omakase Restaurant Group Corporate Culinary Director Dustin Falcon at Niku and helping open Prelude. The goal is for each chef at Kappo to share their expertise and influences as well, while putting local ingredients at the forefront.Â
“We wanted to make it almost like a collective, a collaboration,” he said, “putting together dishes that we really love to eat using products that are all coming from California.” (He added that some inclusions, such as certain wines or sakes, may come from out of state.)
The name Kappo refers to the cozy Japanese dining style in which a chef works in close proximity to guests, typically serving over a counter, which suits Kappo’s small space perfectly.
“We have this location, so we needed to work with what we were provided and what the opportunity was,” Neuwirt said. While he characterized Kappo’s cuisine as more Californian than Japanese, he strives to emulate the best of kappo-style service and is inspired by Japanese dining culture.
“It’s a little bit different than the Americanized concept of, the kitchen’s behind a door and you don’t see the kitchen because you don’t want to see the kitchen,” he noted.
Kappo-style restaurants, he said, are known “for being super seasonal, really friendly, really intimate. To feel like you’re just sitting at the counter in your kitchen, waiting for your parents to pass you something that they’re cooking is kind of like what energy we want to give.”
He has fond memories of his own family kitchen and his early exposure to cooking. Growing up in New England, “We didn’t really have enough money to go out to eat all the time, so most of the time was just spent cooking vegetables that we grew in our garden,” he said, remembering his mother trying recipes from magazines and Food Network. When he decided to pursue a culinary career, it seemed like a natural move.
Neuwirt moved to the Peninsula from San Francisco a few months ago and named Sakae Sushi in Burlingame and Goodthing Coffee (also in Burlingame, with a new location in downtown Palo Alto) as two local favorites he’s discovered so far. He is hopeful that Midpeninsula diners will try Kappo and embrace it as part of the community.
“It’s a small restaurant, (so) it’s going to rely on the local people of Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton to make up most of its customer base. We’re locally sourcing our guests,” he added with a laugh. “I want to get to know people in this area, too.”
Kappo is one of several new restaurant openings at Stanford Shopping Center. Roman-style pizzeria Delarosa debuted Monday, while Mediterranean restaurant Zaytinya, from the José Andrés Group, is debuting Dec. 1. Wine-focused restaurant Cedar & Sage Bistro & Lounge has yet to announce its opening date.
Kappo, 180 El Camino Real #1410, Palo Alto; Instagram: @kappo.ca. Open Wednesday to Sunday with seatings at 5:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.Â
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