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press reviews
06/14/06 Restaurant trio aims to feed S.F. jazz district
by Amanda Bearne
SF Chronicle
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Restaurant trio aims to feed S.F. jazz district
Two restaurants and a jazz club are under construction in the Fillmore Heritage Center in San Francisco's Western Addition, with a third restaurant just across the street.
As reported in The Chronicle in October, the center is being developed by Michael Johnson of Em Johnson Interest as part of a years-old effort to re-create the jazz district. The $70 million project will also include housing, a museum and a parking garage.
Under construction at the corner of Eddy and Fillmore streets as part of the center are Yoshi's San Francisco Jazz Club and Restaurant and Blue Mirror Restaurant and Lounge. Fillmo' Betta Restaurant and Lounge is being built on the opposite corner. All of the venues plan to serve food in lounge settings.
A longtime jazz fan, Johnson asked the owners of Oakland's Yoshi's to open a San Francisco venue; he also became a partner in the new operation.
The San Francisco location, like Oakland's, will feature a Japanese menu. Former Ozumo chef Shotaro Kamio will be executive chef and amp up the menu with contemporary, modern takes on Japanese classics.
The venue's concert capacity is 400 -- 100 more than in Oakland. The restaurant will seat 180, plus 150 more in the lounge.
"This will be a huge challenge to operate a jazz club on both sides of the Bay Bridge," says Yoshi's owner Kaz Kajimura. "There's no real full-time jazz club in San Francisco -- the city should have a great jazz venue."
Kajimura says he's not worried about competition from all the new restaurants. "What Shotaro is doing is really different," he says. "He has so much creativity that I just don't have any hesitation."