CLICK HERE if you are having trouble viewing these photos on a mobile device
Owners Kash Feng and Jackson Yu of Omakase Restaurant Group, the brains behind San Francisco’s Dumpling Time and Michelin-starred Omakase, have unveiled a trio of new openings inside the Design District’s One Henry Adams building — and Wagyu beef is the undisputed star.
At Udon Time, a bright, fast-casual noodle shop, you can have it piled atop your customized bowl of udon soup. At the boutique Niku Steakhouse, you can enjoy seared Japanese Wagyu from the Hyogo prefecture, served alongside vegetables from Sonoma’s Kicking Bull Farms. And at The Butcher Shop by Niku Steakhouse, the city’s only certified Kobe beef retailer, you can take a pound of that heavenly marbled protein home for around $90.
Niku’s veteran in-house butcher, Guy Crims, also runs The Butcher Shop, and oversees the steakhouse’s nose-to-tail meat program along with executive chef Steve Brown, founder of the Wagyu-centric supper club CosechaSD. Beginning in March, Brown and Crims will collaborate on The Butcher Shop’s sandwich and sausage program. Until then, slurp up Udon Time chef Edgar Agbayani’s aged, Sanuki-style noodles or reserve a table at Niku Steakhouse.
We visited earlier this week and found fresh twists on steakhouse staples and an impressive beverage program, including a floor-to-ceiling glass wall containing 100 bottles of wine, all available by the glass. Here’s what else we found at Niku Steakhouse:
THE VIBE: Sexy and modern, with dark wood, stone and polished concrete everywhere. You enter through the stylish bar, which has a floor-to-ceiling liquor library and cozy bar tables facing the adjacent Butcher Shop. In the dining room, all eyes (and noses) are drawn to the sunken kitchen, where Brown and crew are manning the custom-made binchotan charcoal grill. It’s surrounded by counter seating for 18, and it’s the best seat in the house for chatting up Brown, who makes his own Wagyu beef jerky, kimchi and koji.
THE FOOD: The menu features a whopping 14 small plates ($14-$25), six large plates ($42-$80) and a selection of shareable steaks and Wagyu, including the highest grade of A5, starting at $130. We sampled the 40-Day Dry Aged Imperial Wagyu Tomahawk ($180) — extraordinary in flavor and tenderness.
DON’T MISS: Our favorite dishes included creamy Goat Milk Ricotta Agnolotti ($22) with squash, pancetta, pecans and truffle; a colorful and smoky medley of Kicking Bull Farms vegetables, pickled, preserved and charred over the binchotan ($18); and a savory, delightfully crunchy croquette with fermented Early Girl tomato topped with chopped Wagyu tongue ($14). And don’t miss the Oreo-like black sesame chocolate cookie sandwiches with white chocolate centers.
THE DRINK: Like Japanese whiskey? The Niku bartenders know how to whip up a serious cocktail. And at $16 to $21 per, you’ll pay for it, too.
PERFECT FOR … A celebratory steak dinner or night out with cocktails and small plates at Niku; a quick, high-quality lunch or post-shopping slurp-fest at Udon Time.
DETAILS: Niku is open from 5:30 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday at 61 Division St.., San Francisco. Udon Time opens at 11:30 a.m. Monday-Saturday at 51 Division St. And The Butcher Shop by Niku Steakhouse opens at 11 a.m. Monday-Saturday at 57 Division St.; www.nikusteakhouse.com; www.udontime.com; www.nikubutchershop.com
