In the oft hectic and unpredictable restaurant world, Jerome Ito had what might seem like a cushy gig. As the head sushi chef of the first full-service, sit-down sushi bar at Google’s Mountain View headquarters, he was clocking relatively normal hours at one of the biggest names in tech.
“You’re working 7-to-3, you’re off on weekends and holidays, you get paid holidays,” he recalled. “It’s like a regular job. You have a life.”
But after a year at Google, Ito left that stability behind. Together with his wife Linh Tran-Ito, who is a physician, he launched Go Fish Poke Bar in San Jose in 2015. “It was a gamble,” he said. “We were having our first child, and it was like, ‘You’re gonna give all that up?’”
Article continues below this ad
Today, there are two additional locations of Go Fish in downtown Redwood City and at Palo Alto’s Stanford Shopping Center, where the couple also run Taro San Japanese Noodle Bar. In April, they embarked on their most ambitious and buzziest venture to date: Yutori — a Japanese cafe, konbini (convenience store) and hot deli, all under one roof in another part of Palo Alto. It has drawn lines since the get-go.
With the Sept. 24 soft opening of a much-anticipated restaurant and bar, the bustling daytime spot is poised to become an evening destination, too. Two days before opening, Yutori announced on Instagram that dinner reservations had gone live. According to managing partner Lily Peng, nearly all the available tables throughout the weekend were immediately snapped up.
Top left clockwise: Ume Chuhai; Yutori in Palo Alto, Calif.; Nikkei ceviche and wagyu nori crisp; the bar at Yutori.
Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE
Top down: Ume Chuhai; Yutori in Palo Alto, Calif.; the bar at Yutori; Nikkei ceviche and wagyu nori crisp.
Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE
While the cafe, konbini and deli flow into each other on the left side of Yutori, the right side of the 5,000-square-foot venue contains the restaurant, which accommodates 68 people indoors, including a dozen at the 26-foot-long marble-topped bar and 32 on the patio. The modern interior is warmed up with deep green tiles, white oak and plush upholstered dining chairs, curved banquette seating, and George Nelson bubble pendant lamps.
Article continues below this ad
For Ito and Tran-Ito, design and food are twin passions, he said, characterizing his wife as “probably more of a foodie than I am.” It’s in her DNA: For more than 30 years, Tran-Ito’s father was a chef at Chinese restaurants in the Bay Area and opened his own place in the East Bay, where she grew up working.
Although Ito, who hails from Los Angeles, worked the front-of-house at a friend’s family restaurant during high school, his introduction to a professional kitchen came much later. In his late 20s, when he was a school district employee, Ito contemplated a career pivot. Since he enjoyed cooking, a friend suggested that he give culinary school a try.
“At the end of the day,” Ito remembered him saying, “if you don’t like it for a career, at least you’ll know how to cook for yourself.”
Top left clockwise: Owner Adam Nguyen, chef de cuisine Jason Lee, owner Lily Peng, executive chef and owner Jerome Ito, and owner Linh Tran-Ito at Yutori in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2026.
Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE
A mizuna salad at Yutori in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2026.
Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE
So Ito enrolled in the culinary program at Cerritos College, where he learned Italian and French cooking techniques, and then attended the Sushi Chef Institute. In 2013, after Tran-Ito had completed her medical residency, the couple moved to the Bay Area.
Article continues below this ad
Following a stint at now-shuttered Bushido Izakaya in Mountain View, Ito landed at Google, which turned out to be a great testing ground for the Go Fish concept. “We’d serve thousands throughout the day,” he said.
His experimentation with salmon skin, which would have otherwise been discarded by the Google bagel crew, was a monster hit. “I would mix it with my own sauce, then bake and broil it,” Ito said. “People were going crazy and were like, ‘This tastes like bacon!’” Hence, Go Fish’s Bacon of the Sea hand roll, which now incorporates the crunchy concoction from Ito’s tech cafeteria days.
With Go Fish and Taro San, which specializes in fresh udon made daily in-house, “I created 99% of everything,” Ito said. At Yutori, he continued, “this is the first one where I’ve brought people in for specific roles. There’s no way I could do it all, nor would I want to.”
Article continues below this ad
He and his wife have assembled quite the team. Chef de cuisine Jason Lee started out in the kitchens of Go Fish and Taro San and later worked at Ritual at Manresa in Los Gatos, cooking alongside world-renowned visiting chefs. Janet Tong, formerly of Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc in Yountville, develops pastries for the Yutori cafe and restaurant.
Charles Choung — whose resume includes Omakase in San Francisco and Protégé in Palo Alto, both of which have held Michelin stars — manages the restaurant’s front-of-house and is also the sake sommelier. Bar director Francisco Carranza came from the highly acclaimed Viridian in Oakland and Pacific Cocktail Haven in San Francisco.
A Yugo Carre cocktail and a Rising Sun zero-proof cocktail at Yutori in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2026.
Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE
Francisco Carranza inspects the bar at Yutori in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2026.
Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE
At Yutori, Hannya is Carranza’s signature cocktail. It involves Cazcabel tequila that is fat-washed in coconut oil and infused with kombu. Pineapple gum lends a silky and tropical note, and sudachi lime imparts tartness. Yuzu bitters round out the drink, which Carranza described as “a savory margarita with a bit of a tropical twist and the bones of a piña colada.”
Article continues below this ad
The restaurant’s main menu is divided into three sections, progressing from small bites to entree-sized portions, and the dessert course offers a few options. From beginning to end, the food made a stellar first impression. And since family-style dining is encouraged, next time, I’m hoping to dine with a larger group — not just my husband — so we can try even more dishes.
“It’s California cuisine with Japanese influences,” Ito said of the menu, noting the emphasis on Japanese flavors and ingredients. For example, Japanese cucumber, Tokyo turnip, myoga (Japanese ginger) and greens like shungiku, mizuna and wasabi arugula are sourced from Watsonville-based Hikari Farms.
We started out strong with the wagyu nori crisp ($20), which our server, Iker Cortez, explained is “a playful version of tamago kake gohan.” A crackly nori sheet serves as the base for rice mixed with a golden egg yolk, house-made furikake and sweet tamari, which is then topped with A5 wagyu. Consider it comfort food with a luxe, buttery touch.
After the Nikkei ceviche ($32), which is made with red snapper, bluefin tuna and salmon and served with fried taro and lotus chips; the mizuna salad ($22), which stars those Hikari Farms greens; and a seafood pasta ($58) that combines squid-ink spaghettini with mentaiko, clams and chunks of lobster and scallop in a dashi broth, we moved on to the entrees.
Article continues below this ad
Seafood pasta at Yutori in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2026.
Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE
Cauliflower katsu with pickled rakkyo at Yutori in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2026.
Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE
A whole-roasted branzino lettuce wrap with shiso salsa verde, rayu chili oil and dashi apple slaw at Yutori in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2026.
Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE
“I try to make my vegetarian dishes outshine the proteins,” Ito said. “It has to be interesting and well thought out.” Indeed, the cauliflower katsu ($34) was a favorite. Panko-crusted cauliflower rests on cabbage and a velvety mole sauce boosted with curry powder.
Article continues below this ad
For the whole-roasted branzino (market price), the fish is butterflied, deboned and grilled. Building your own wraps with the various lettuces and condiments — such as shiso salsa verde, rayu chili oil and a tangy-sweet apple slaw — is part of the fun.
Since the restaurant’s priority right now is getting dinner service down pat, weekend brunch will likely commence in early 2027. In the meantime, the cafe, konbini and hot deli offer plenty of morning and midday temptations. The cafe has 12 seats inside, with outdoor tables allowing for another 55 or so.
While its iced Earl Grey matcha latte ($8) is a bestseller, I’m partial to the signature hojicha latte ($7), paired with a banana loaf covered in kinako streusel ($6) or a black sesame scone ($6).
In the deli, the ebi katsu sando ($18.50) is the most popular sandwich for good reason. A panko-coated patty comprising plump pieces of shrimp is tucked into a brioche bun, along with shaved green cabbage, pickled red onion and house-made yuzu kosho tartar.
Article continues below this ad
Any wait for food and drinks is well spent browsing the konbini, which has not only pantry goods, snacks and a cold case with beverages and grab-and-go bites — including onigiri and fruit- or egg salad-filled sandos — but also a retail area with lovely artisanal wares.
Chef de cuisine Jason Lee, left, and executive chef and owner Jerome Ito at Yutori in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2026.
Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE
Yutori in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2026.
Lance Yamamoto/SFGATE
The latter is curated by Ito’s mother, Candace Murata (also known as Grammy). The merchandise, ranging from utensils and tableware to stationery and textiles, stems from family trips to Japan and relationships forged with craftspeople. “The focus was to bring unique items. It’s not Daiso $2 things,” Ito said, referencing the Japanese dollar-store chain.
Article continues below this ad
“It’s the best of the best,” he added. For example, “the people who make the scissors, that’s all they do.”
As the restaurant neared opening, Ito shared that he was especially excited about building and furthering relationships with staff, suppliers and patrons as the couple’s enterprises blossom. He and Tran-Ito are also dreaming bigger. The possibilities include community workshops (ikebana, anyone?), guest chef events and more gastronomic options (like kakigori next summer, and perhaps a yakitori and a Japanese beer garden in the future).
Yutori is the couple’s most personal endeavor yet, according to Ito. “This is what we enjoy,” he said of the various aspects of the Japanese food emporium. “We hope everyone likes what we put out because it’s what we like, and that’s what everything is based off of. We gotta believe in ourselves in order to create something good. It’s a risk that we’re willing to take.”
Article continues below this ad
Yutori, 3375 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Restaurant and bar: Open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5:30 p.m.-10 p.m. Cafe and konbini: Open Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Dining and Cooking