The Bay Area has been a haven for Japanese food for more than a century. One of the oldest Japanese marketplaces along the Peninsula was established by Tokutaro Takahashi in 1906. Takahashi Market in San Mateo is still in operation today. More than 100 years since its founding, Japanese food has grown into a staple cuisine around Silicon Valley.
But the market for Japanese food is not monolithic, and the U.S. market for Japanese food is growing. 7-Eleven is investing billions in bringing Japanese fast food to the U.S. and announced in early December that it has started selling its egg salad sandwiches in America given their popularity at its Japanese markets. Market research firms identify fast-casual sushiand other Japanese offeringsas part of a rapidly growing market.
Anyone who’s spent much time adventuring through the online food landscapes of TikTok and Instagram is likely to have seen trendy Japanese convenience store offerings, ranging from those egg salad sandos to onigiri and an overwhelming range of milk breads, pastries and candies, plus shops that offer bento boxes, omakase and more.
Two new Peninsula restaurants are embracing that appetite, leaning into the aestheticism and marketability of delicately curated portions.
Kazu Sushi & Sando in San Mateo specializes in milk bread sandos and affordable omakase, all to go. Buri Buri Burlingame — originally a food truck specializing in eponymous donburi rice bowls — is adapting its approach with its first brick-and-mortar location, specializing in single servings of sushi rolls and bento boxes.
Kazu Sushi & Sando
Necessity often breeds creativity. Chef Shigekazu “Jay” Yoshikoshi and his daughter, Jennifer, created Kazu Sushi & Sando initially as a pragmatic response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jay Yoshikoshi began his own catering business, Yoshi’s Catering, in 2008, and worked as a vendor for Bon Appétit Management Company. But as offices emptied in 2020, his clients — including major Bay Area entities ranging from Stanford University and Electronic Arts to Amazon — no longer had a need for catering.
As that business cratered, the Yoshikoshis adapted.
Jennifer Yoshikoshi helped her father start Kazu while still in school at UC Santa Barbara. She builds the Instagram-oriented business’ social media presence while her father cooks and fulfills orders. (Editor’s note: Jennifer is a reporter for The Almanac, a Peninsula Foodist sister publication at Embarcadero Media Foundation.)
She also helped her father create Kazu’she logo: a koinobori, which is a carp flag that’s typically used as a symbol for Children’s Day in Japan, a holiday celebrating the growth and joy of children.
“The koi is very symbolic of family,” Jennifer Yoshikoshi said. “It’s usually displayed in three koinoboris in a row, and each one has their own representation of the father, mother and the children. So we thought it was the perfect way to embody what our business is, which is family run, and (it) symbolizes courage and strength within families, to show what my dad and I have gone through to put this business out here.”
The business got put on hold in 2023 as her father’s catering work picked back up. But that work has slowed again, and the opportunity to bring Kazu back in earnest made sense.
After months of work to overcome permitting hurdles that delayed an intended fall opening, Kazu Sushi & Sando opened Dec. 17 as a ghost kitchen operating in the San Mateo Food Mall.
The new venture represents the continuation of Jay Yoshikoshi’s life in pursuit of cooking. His early love of cooking began as a 12-year-old helping his mother in the kitchen. He channeled that passion into a career in 1971, training as a 22-year-old sushi apprentice for three years. After working as a Benihana chef in Hawaii, he established his Bay Area roots, becoming a sushi chef at Kansai Restaurant in San Francisco in 1979.
After taking time away from cooking to work in sales, Jay Yoshikoshi returned to the food service industry in 2008, when he founded his own catering business, Yoshi’s Catering.
During the pandemic, Kazu’s menu had a wider focus on milk bread sandwiches. With Jay Yoshikoshi as the only chef in the kitchen, they slimmed down the menu to provide the most popular options and keep operations streamlined.
Their sando offerings come in flavors such as mixed fruit and whipped cream, egg salad and a katsu trio of pork, shrimp and unagi ($14-$17). The sushi offerings are varied, with the 16-piece omakase set featuring uni, caviar and truffle serving as the crown jewel of the menu ($62).
Ultimately, Jay Yoshikoshi wants to open his own shop, a grab-and-go style establishment where customers can see his offerings in a display case. For now, he’s happy to serve the community with a craft he prides himself in.
“We want to make it affordable for you to enjoy our omakase sets,” Jay Yoshikoshi wrote in an email. “There’s a joy in being able to create beautiful sushi with my own hands. Our goal is to hear our customers say, ‘This is delicious!’”
Kazu Sushi & Sando, 66 21st Ave., San Mateo; Instagram: @kazumenu. Open Monday and Wednesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-7:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m.
Buri Buri Burlingame
Buri Buri was founded five years ago as a food truck by chef Anne Li, Katrina Fang, a former Italian cafe manager, and Nikki Ma, a caterer who ran her own food truck. The food truck, which specializes in donburi rice bowls and frequently caters corporate events, will remain active.
Li is the main chef. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, she became a pastry chef, following in the footsteps of her father, Hon.
Buri Buri opened its brick-and-mortar eatery in Burlingame Dec. 1, allowing its founders to try a different concept than the food truck — a cafe where sushi can be ordered by the piece for build-your-own boxes so customers can try a wider variety of offerings.
Their concept is simple, but distinct, from the consumer side: bento boxes and mix-and-match pieces of sushi and nigiri priced by the piece. Buri Buri offers specialty rolls, nigiri, inari (a sweet-and-savory tofu pouch) and pressed sushi, with everything priced at $2.35-$3.25 per piece.
Buri Buri offers four different bento boxes for $16.95-$19.95 — teriyaki chicken, pork katsu, unagi don or corn croquette — that come with shishito peppers, tomato, lotus root and potato salad. All are available with curry for $2.50 more. The eatery also offers a weekly special.
Its specialty drinks include housemade matchas and sodas using Japanese citrus, including yuzu and hirami lemon ($7.50).
Li said the menu won’t be stable: It will evolve depending on what ingredients are available and in season.
“We have at least 15 sushi rolls daily; 15 different rolls and nigiris and inaris,” Li said.
She said she’s inspired by the colors and art of sushi making.
“It looks beautiful,” Li said. “You see rice, nori, shrimp, crab and different fish on top and the toppings. It’s almost eight to 10 things going in one bite.”
Li said her favorite roll is the scarlet wave, which includes crab, salmon, spicy tuna, tobiko, garlic, avocado, cucumber and scallion. It’s a spin on a volcano roll, topped with spicy tuna.
Li said some customers have been a bit confused because the concept of one-bite rolls is new to them. She urged feedback from diners to streamline their model.
Since opening at the start of December, Li said they’ve hosted a private event every weekend. She has aspirations of Buri Buri becoming an izakaya in the evening, a place to eat and drink and host her friends. The space has a 20-person capacity, which Li characterized as “minimalistic and cafe style.”
“In the future, I wanted to extend the hours longer or even earlier to have a breakfast, and then the nighttime will start at like izakaya,” Li said. “Some small food and small dishes, more cooked food.”
Li’s hope is for Buri Buri to become a staple of the Burlingame community.
“(I take pride in) the product that I put out,” she said. “That it’s beautiful, and I see customers coming back with happiness, and they bring their friends and families.”
Buri Buri Burlingame, 1100 Howard Ave., Suite D, Burlingame; 650-336-8146, Instagram: @buriburiburlingame. Open Monday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
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