|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The team behind Mountain View’s Sushi Jin debuted a new sushi restaurant in downtown Los Altos May 22.
Haru Japanese Restaurant, located in the former space of Georgian restaurant Bevri, specializes in gozen, a traditional, formal Japanese set meal that includes a main dish, rice, miso soup and side dishes on a single tray. Haru also notably has two dry-aging fridges, which the sushi chefs use to add a more unique flavor to their fish. While Haru does have a sushi bar that offers an eight-piece omakase sushi tasting ($63), it is not an omakase-style restaurant.
“So many omakase restaurants open down in Santa Clara County, so we figured, ‘Why should we still do omakase style? We should have something more affordable,’ so that’s why we try to open a more casual dining restaurant in South Bay,” chef-owner Gavin Liang said.
Liang has plenty of experience in the Bay Area’s high-end Japanese restaurant scene. In 2016, he and Weida Chen opened Hinata, an omakase restaurant in San Francisco. Two years later, the chefs brought on Jing Huang to open kaiseki restaurant Sasa in San Francisco. The team opened omakase restaurant Sushi Jin in 2022, and on Friday, Haru (meaning “spring” in Japanese) opened in downtown Los Altos.
Expect appetizers ($7-$23) such as kani chawanmushi (snow crab steamed egg custard with dashi sauce) and American-influenced dishes including a wagyu sando with miso katsu sauce or wagyu hamburger with American cheese ($28-$42). A variety of makimono ($14-$32) are available, including a 12-piece deep-fried roll with salmon, tuna, hamachi and avocado, dubbed the Haru Roll.
Ikura uni don, or salmon roe and sea urchin over rice, ($40) is one of seven gohan options for the Haru gozen set at Haru Japanese Restaurant in downtown Los Altos. Photo by Michael Molcsan. 
Gindara miso yaki, or miso black cod, ($33) is one of five choices for the main dish of the Haru gozen set. Photo by Michael Molcsan. 
Sashimi is one of seven side dishes in a Haru gozen set. Photo by Seeger Gray.
At the sushi bar, guests can opt for a toro or salmon tasting, showcasing five kinds of toro or salmon, respectively ($28-$36). For the gozen sets, guests can choose from five mains, such as grilled wagyu beef or miso black cod, and seven gohan, including rice topped with barbecued eel or salmon roe and sea urchin ($28-$78).
For beverages, Haru has a full bar, with the program focusing on Japanese whisky, signature cocktails, sake and domestic and French wines, Liang said.
The restaurant can seat about 100, featuring a main dining room, back dining room available for private parties and a parklet for outdoor dining. Haru has a modern Japanese feel, with plenty of wood and neutral colors. The restaurant includes an open kitchen, sushi bar, cocktail bar and cozy booth seating.
Haru Japanese Restaurant, 325 Main St., Los Altos; Instagram: @harulosaltos. Open daily noon to 2 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m.
Dig into food news. Follow the Peninsula Foodist on Instagram and subscribe to the newsletter to get insights on the latest openings and closings, learn what the Foodist is excited about eating, read exclusive interviews and keep up on the trends affecting local restaurants.
