From left, Michiyo and Sohei Lappen, the mother-son duo behind Hapa Bistro in San Bruno. Courtesy Hapa Bistro.
When Sohei Lappen graduated college with a degree in criminal justice in 2019, opening a restaurant wasn’t on his to-do list. But in January, he and his mother, Michiyo Lappen, opened Hapa Bistro, a small French restaurant in San Bruno offering a prix fixe dinner menu and à la carte lunch.
The cozy 16-seat restaurant located in a former office space features ample plants, natural wood and handmade sapele tables, with framed French newspapers adoring the walls. The $70 amuse-bouche plus four-course dinner menu, curated by chef Kai Midorikawa, changes monthly, and the lunch menu, developed by Michiyo and Sohei Lappen, features French, Japanese and American cuisine.
“It’s a very intimate restaurant,” Sohei Lappen said. “When you come in, I’ll be the one serving you.”
Hapa Bistro’s current prix fixe dinner menu includes a first course of Atlantic trout with spinach purée, pineapple and carrot salad and yuzu kosho. Courtesy Hapa Bistro.
Hapa Bistro’s current prix fixe dinner menu includes a main course of duck roast with potato, kale, beet puree, lotus root chip and port wine sauce. Courtesy Hapa Bistro.
Hapa Bistro’s prix fixe dinner menu has the option to add pâté en croûte as an additional course. Courtesy Hapa Bistro.
While neither Michiyo or Sohei Lappen have a culinary degree, both developed their skills by working in catering. The mother-son duo had worked at Schumann’s Four Seasons Catering, when Sohei was just 16 years old, before Michiyo bought Vienna Pizzeria in San Bruno. After three years of running the pizzeria, she converted it into her own catering company, Vienna Catering, and continues to run that business with Sohei today. Last year, they acquired the next-door unit to convert it into Hapa Bistro’s dining room.
The inspiration for Hapa Bistro began after Sohei Lappen’s brother attended graduate school in France.
“In America, it’s a lot of over-the-counter or fast-casual types of things popping up, but in Europe and France, we see these small little bistros that seem a little more homey, a little more unique, so we wanted to do something similar to that,” Sohei Lappen said.
A dining table at Hapa Bistro in San Bruno. Courtesy Hapa Bistro.
The name, a colloquial term that refers to a person who is partially of Asian or Pacific Islander descent, was chosen to reflect the blend of cultures prevalent in the restaurant. While Hapa Bistro is not a fusion restaurant, it does offer multiple cuisine types for lunch ($11.95-$28.75), including French options like chicken cordon bleu, Japanese dishes like chirashi sushi with miso soup and American favorites like Angus beef burgers.
“During the daytime, we just want something that’s more casual bistro style, comfortable and definitely less expensive, more reasonable for people,” Sohei Lappen said.
To create Hapa Bistro’s multi-course French prix fixe dinner menu, the Lappens needed a chef skilled in fine dining. They decided to hire Midorikawa, who previously worked at Japanese Italian restaurant La Casa Mia and at a French omakase-style restaurant in Tokyo.
From top left clockwise, lunch options at Hapa Bistro include grilled tri-tip Caesar salad, crispy chicken sandwich and rotating special chicken cordon Bleu ($16.95-$19.75). Courtesy Hapa Bistro.
Hapa Bistro’s a la carte lunch menu includes chirashi sushi with grilled salmon, egg, edamame, vegetables and shiitake mushroom ($15.75). Courtesy Hapa Bistro.
Midorikawa’s current dinner menu features an amuse-bouche of leek soup with a beef tart followed by an appetizer of a beef tongue taco with lentil and tomato confit. For an extra $25, the following course features pâté en croûte, pâté filled with gelatinized consumé and wrapped in golden brown pastry. The first course is Atlantic trout with spinach, pineapple and carrot salad and yuzu kosho, and the main course is prime New York steak with potato gratin and port wine sauce. The dinner is completed with pistachio cake topped with condensed milk ice cream.
Hapa Bistro also offers a nonalcoholic beverage pairing for an additional $30 and à la carte nonalcoholic beverages for $8-$10 each. Drinks include a bubbly infusion with lemon, orange, lime, pear, mint and sage; a beverage made with dehydrated apple, Japanese black bean, cloves and cinnamon; a fermented pineapple drink with orange, ginger and chamomile; and a botanic nonalcoholic red wine with blueberry, strawberry, pomegranate, tomato, cloves and star anise.
Sohei Lappen hopes to introduce homemade ginger soda to incorporate a naturally probiotic, bubbly alternative to sparkling water, he said.
Hapa Bistro’s current prix fixe dinner menu comes with a dessert course of pistachio petite cake, homemade condensed milk ice cream, orange and cream. Courtesy Hapa Bistro.
Hapa Bistro’s former prix fixe dinner menu came with a dessert course of matcha ice cream with cream diplomat, orange, cocoa nibs and meringue.
Once Hapa Bistro receives its beer and wine license, expected in mid-March, it will also introduce a wine list and wine pairings as well as host its grand opening.
Sohei Lappen said he’s excited to improve his culinary skills with his new restaurant, as well as improve his Japanese-speaking skills by practicing with Midorikawa.
“The overall goal is to just really improve (Hapa Bistro’s) experience and our own culinary skills, while allowing customers to enjoy the process,” he said.
Hapa Bistro, 590 El Camino Real Suite H, San Bruno; 650-873-0300, Instagram: @hapabistro. Open Friday to Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m.
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