Yoshi's San Francisco Jazz Club | Japanese Restaurant San Francisco

Jazz Club Events:

Dining Hours:

Dinner:
Monday-Wednesday
5:30pm to 9:00pm

Thursday
5:30pm to 10:00pm

Friday & Saturday
5:30pm to 10:30pm

Sunday
5:00pm to 9:00pm

Yoshi's San Francisco
1330 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: 415.655.5600

press reviews

11/05/08 Sustainable sushi guides are a great idea, but they're not easy to use
by Jenny Slafkosky
Contra Costa Times

For Shotaro Kamio, executive chef of Yoshi's in Oakland and San Francisco, finding fresh, local and seasonal ingredients is a key part of his cooking philosophy.

"We try to buy local seafood when it is in season because it is usually the freshest and most flavorful," he says. "When in season, prices are moderate, but the quality is unsurpassed."

While so far none of Yoshi's customers has asked about sustainable seafood, the restaurant does list the country of origin for many of the seafoods on the menu. Kamio also notes that the restaurant already serves many of the "Best Choice" options on each of the sustainable sushi lists, but that some of the items are seasonal and not always available.

"At the moment, many purveyors are a bit wary of committing themselves to supplying sustainable seafoods to the massive restaurant industry, since the high prices and limited availability might not be advantageous to restaurant owners," says Kamio.

In a restaurant like Yoshi's that serves 1,000 customers a day, Kamio says it's not easy to find a consistent supply of good products that are sustainable. "We have to balance our philosophy of buying sustainable product with being able to provide for so many guests at a price and product level that they require," he says.

Kamio also points out that, in tough economic times, many restaurateurs are reluctant to pay premium prices for sustainable seafoods, because they feel their customers may not be willing to pay extra money for the product.

While Kamio says he dreams of one day owning a small restaurant where the menu changes daily based on what's available in the local markets, right now he works closely with his purveyors to buy seasonal and local seafood whenever he can get it. "If sustainable seafood were to become more readily available to us at a fair price, I think I would offer those items on my menus," he says.

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