The very first U.S. place of Fugetsu, a Japanese okonomiyaki chain, is shutting down in Santa Clara but has reopened inside a longtime Japanese cafe in Sunnyvale.
Fugetsu will shut for fantastic at 2783 El Camino Real immediately after Sunday, May 9, stated Shinya Fujimoto, who owns the U.S. restaurant. But as of Wednesday, the Japanese chain’s well-liked okonomiyaki — crispy, savory pancakes adorned with a sweet top secret sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes and toppings like fried egg and fish roe — are readily available at Sunnyvale Japanese staple Rokko. Fujimoto’s husband or wife owns Rokko, so when his lease was up in Santa Clara it was an easy transition to keep Fugetsu alive in the Bay Area — and to be in a position to provide okonomiyaki on incredibly hot plates in a dining place for the very first time due to the fact past March.
At the Sunnyvale outpost the foodstuff is currently being ready by a chef who was educated at Fugetsu in Japan, Fujimoto explained. The okonomiyaki batter receives mixed with cabbage, pork, shrimp and other fillings and is cooked gradually to maintain a fluffy, tender inside with a concurrently crispy exterior. The wanted texture and top quality just take time: The okonomiyaki takes about 20 to 30 minutes to cook properly, and is only flipped after.
“We prepare dinner it pretty slowly and gradually to seize the cabbage within the crispy levels, which will make it really flavorful,” Fujimoto explained. “We’re incredibly certain about that to generate that exact stage of okonomiyaki that we supply in Japan.”
In addition to the vintage options, Fugetsu serves okonomiyaki with pork, scallops, potato or spicy cod roe. The nearby outpost also would make two variations that aren’t offered in Japan: an ebi mayo okonomiyaki topped with shrimp, green onions and melted cheese, and a different with stewed beef, a fried egg and pickled ginger.
Yet another most loved at Fugetsu is yakisoba noodles, stir-fried with pork, shrimp, scallops, cabbage and other mix-ins. Fujimoto was not able to source the noodles from Japan, so he spent three months working with a area noodle organization to develop a similar stateside edition. They’re thick — measuring in excess of ⅛ of an inch — and have a mochi-like, chewy texture. You can also buy modanyaki, the child of okonomiyaki and yakisoba, with the noodles included as a topping.
Fujimoto is an okonomiyaki fan turned operator. He’s a native of Osaka, Japan, where Fugetsu was born as a tiny road stand soon after Planet War II. The homeowners of the stand, tough-pressed for foodstuff, set whichever they had on hand into a batter and cooked it, Fujimoto explained. “Okonomi” usually means “anything you want,” he said. The very affordable, comforting dish promptly served Fugetsu come to be a strike in Osaka and outside of.
Fugetsu is now a world chain with 80 spots. Fujimoto, a Silicon Valley engineer who would make an annual pilgrimage to the cafe on journeys to Japan, ultimately approached the house owners about bringing Fugetsu’s okonomiyaki to the United States. He opened the 1st retail store in Santa Clara in 2016.
Fugetsu is serving largely the similar menu at Rokko, however they program to slowly add new dishes. Fujimoto hopes to get to new diners at the Sunnyvale place, specially in Mountain Watch, Palo Alto and the northern Peninsula.
The Santa Clara Fugetsu was far too smaller to justify opening inside at constrained capacity throughout the pandemic, so the cafe tables equipped with special griddles to continue to keep the okonomiyaki warm remained shut. But the okonomiyaki institution can now provide in-man or woman, dine-in dining at Rokko, which will keep on serving its own menu as well.
“As fantastic as takeout is, you just can’t conquer the experience and the top quality of food items that just will come out of the kitchen,” Fujimoto explained.
A 2nd outpost of Fugetsu, a takeout-only retail store in San Jose, continues to be open up. Fujimoto had planned for it to be a sit-down restaurant but retooled the thought in the middle of development after the pandemic hit. He took inspiration from office outlets in Japan that offer get-and-go food stuff. The San Jose market serves okonomiyaki to go as well as Japanese treats, bento containers and onigiri from Shalala Deli.
Fugetsu. 190 S. Frances St., Sunnyvale. 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 5-7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday. fugetsu-united states.com/#
Elena Kadvany is a San Francisco Chronicle employees writer. Electronic mail: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: ekadvany