A chef who helped open Jean-Georges in Tokyo has moved to San Francisco and opened his first U.S. restaurant. Shinka, from chef Fumio Yonezawa, debuted Friday, Oct. 9, on the ground floor of The Jay, Autograph Collection hotel at 333 Battery St. in the Financial District, Eater SF reported.

The restaurant takes over the space that held Prelude, which has closed. Omakase Restaurant Group is behind the change, according to TatoSF and a hiring listing for the restaurant on Culinary Agents.

Who's cooking

Yonezawa grew up in Japan and started out cooking Italian food in Tokyo. He moved to New York in 2002 to work as a sous chef at Jean-Georges, then returned home with the team that launched Jean-Georges Tokyo. Later he opened No Code, an omakase restaurant with locations in Tokyo and Taipei, along with a more casual spinoff, NY Bistro by No Code, according to Eater SF.

He arrived in San Francisco in September. He told Eater he was drawn by California's produce and weather, and by the chance for his daughters to learn English.

What's on the menu

Shinka opens with a tasting menu that applies French technique to Japanese flavors and Northern California ingredients. The kitchen makes its own dashi, bonito flakes and koji, including a jalapeño koji.

Dishes on the opening menu include:

  • "Taste of California," heirloom tomatoes with seasonal fruit in a chilled broth of dashi and fermented tomato consommé
  • Chawanmushi, a savory egg custard, topped with Dungeness crab and black truffle butter dashi
  • Locally caught cod marinated in shio koji and finished with a white wine sauce
  • Dessert of white bean and white chocolate cheesecake with a sake lees sorbet

Starting Monday, Oct. 12, the bar will also serve some dishes a la carte, including the chawanmushi and the tomato dish, and Yonezawa plans to add more over time, Eater reported.

Franco Bilbaeno, who worked with the Prelude team, runs the drinks program. It focuses on sake and Japanese whisky, with wine available by the glass, by the bottle or as a pairing. The cocktails lean on Japanese ingredients, such as an old fashioned made with toasted soybean flour.

If you want to go

Shinka is open 4:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, according to the restaurant's website. The phone number is 415-375-8041. The hotel says reservations are preferred and can be made on OpenTable or through the front desk.