2011年7月4日星期一

Spiffy, casual Japanese restaurant anchors Napa Town Center

Rick Zaslove has been itching to have his own restaurant for quite some time now.

His culinary dreams got a shot in the arm last year when he hit on the idea of working with an established, well-liked Japanese restaurateur in a new venture spotlighting what he likes to call "modern Japanese cuisine."

The president of Golden State Lumber, Zaslove said he believes being a restaurateur is the perfect "something to do when I retire." No, Zaslove hasn't retired from more than two decades in the lumber business. But with the opening of Eiko's in the Napa Town Center 10 days ago,Save on hydraulic hose and fittings,The same Air purifier, cover removed. he's well on his way to living the retirement dream.

Zaslove said he's more than qualified to shift to a culinary career. "I've been eating out at lunch every day for 38 years," he volunteered as he talked about launching a new urban Japanese eatery in downtown Napa.

"One of the places I used to go to all the time was Fujiya (the oldest Japanese restaurant in Napa located in the outlet stores mall)," he continued. "I began to work with the chef, suggesting things to him, and eventually some of the things on the menu were dishes I helped create.the Injection mold fast!"

One day last year, while dining at Tokyo Fro's in Sacramento, a popular Japanese sushi restaurant with a full bar, Zaslove wondered: "Why couldn't we have a similar restaurant in Napa?" He started looking around for available sites, and one afternoon spotted the vacant storefront along First Street that formerly housed Piccolino's.

"I called my brother, Mike, and asked him if he wanted to partner up with me to open a Japanese restaurant. I also knew that Eiko Nakamura had been struggling at Fujiya, so I invited her to be a partner as well. She agreed to bring her core menu, some staff and for us to use her name. And that's how we all got together to open Eiko's (pronounced ¡®ey-kohs')."

Over a 10-month period, Zaslove put together the plans for a Japanese restaurant with a full bar lounge that offers everything from sushi to bento boxes, udon to tempura, yakitori to main courses featuring grilled and saut¨¦ed fish, Wagyu steak, Scottish salmon and lamb tenderloin.

The budding restaurateur wanted a restaurant that's informal and welcoming. "I wanted it to be inviting and classy, but certainly not stuffy," he said.

To that end, he enlisted the help of designers Dan Worden and Kimberley Nunn. Their Shopworks firm is responsible for the public space design of W Hotels in Dallas, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, New York and Chicago,The Leading zentai suits Distributor to Independent Pet Retailers. as well as a trio of Napa eateries ¡ª Norman Rose Tavern, Farm and Boon Fly ¡ª plus Napa's Oxbow Market and Banana Republic outlets, among many other commercial entities.

Because of his ties to the lumber company, Zaslove told the Shopworks partners to use as much wood as they wanted in the design. That prompted Worden and Nunn to work Brazilian ipe ¡ª a dark ironwood ¡ª and pine into the restaurant and lounge design. The First Street space is dominated by an 18-foot-tall woven ipe wall, inspired by Japanese fences and basketry. Japanese temples served as inspiration for the back bar and lounge seating area. The ipe was also used for sturdy dining tables, pine for subtle panels.This page list rubber hose products with details & specifications.

The polished concrete floors are studded with a traditional Japanese symbol, nearly two dozen hand-painted applications of koi fish. There are two outdoor fire pits in the al fresco dining area, and a fireplace in the lounge, ideal for the cool nights that had been hanging on of late.

In addition to track lighting, illumination of the 140-seat restaurant includes hanging lamps reminiscent of fishing nets and large fishing floats. Inspired by signs at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, a giant "lantern" above the sushi bar contains blessings, selections of poems and musings ("Kokin Wakashu" and "Pillow Book") as well as names of fish and Japanese celebrities.

Black awnings will anchor the front of the building once the planned sidewalk cafe is added to the mix of indoor and outdoor dining options.

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