SSSIA

By Elli Sekine

Wagyu is becoming a fullfledged boom. You already regularly find “wagyu” in menus of American restaurants and delicatessens. However wagyu as a category in the US is still vague. In the meantime, “Niku Steakhouse”, which opened last year in the Design District of San Francisco, is a new type of steak restaurant that emphasizes brand wagyu and A4-5 quality strongly as a Japan-direct wagyu specialty restaurant. Since its opening, this restaurant has been so popular, that it has been achieving full capacity daily.

The Gulf region where this Design District is located, is changing to an IT business base due to a large-scale redevelopment. In this District, there has been a series of construction rushes of buildings and condominiums in the last 3 to 4 years, and along with the big IT businesses flowing into the area, the population has grown rapidly, public safety has been improved, and the number of high-end restaurants has also grown quickly. “Omakase Restaurant Group”, which started its restaurant business in this area early on, has been opening Japanese and Asian restaurants one after another, and producing many successful restaurants.

The “Omakase Restaurant Group” has developed a total of 5restaurants and a shop so far in this area. There are a variety of business models and concepts in them, from a Michelin-starred “Omakase” restaurant, to the casual “Dumpling Time” and “Udon Time”.

Among them, this “Niku Steakhouse” uses a high-end model, utilizing a cutting-edge facility and latest cooking techniques. This Group’s operation staff are Chinese. With their strong efforts in teaming up, they have developed unique routes and approaches to Japanese culture, education, and networking. They keep getting offers from investors because of their achievement records and planning power. They have a plan to launch a new venture in the near future, and “Dumpling Time” went overseas to Shibuya this year.

What is tremendously contributing to the quality management of the main theme of “Niku Steakhouse” which is the superb quality wagyu, is the “butcher shop” next door to the restaurant. There, Guy Crims, who is in charge of importing and butchering meat, is the core person who travels throughout Japan to purchase large quantities of meat. The carefully selected wagyu by Mr. Crims is cut by section first, and then further gets custom-cut to match each individual order. You can taste the specialty of the direct import quality of the steaks cooked in accordance with the weather conditions, raising methods, etc. of each region of the ingredients.

At the butcher shop, sliced wagyu with its characteristic delicious-looking marbled-fat patterns are displayed artistically, and are catching the eyes of the visitors. In this shop, even the location of production, individual ID number, and nose print of each wagyu are described. I asked the reason that they can offer relatively reasonable prices compared to other restaurants’ on A5 wagyu. Mr. Crims simply said, “It is because we buy a big bulk.” By selling also at the store front, the high-quality meat circulates with no waste. From last month, they started to sell “wagyu hamburgers” for lunch time only, and this has been causing a customer rush.

Its roomy interior space is modern and sophisticated. Its high ceiling and the courtyard outside of the windows provides a relaxed ambience. The counter space by the entrance is beautiful, and the tall and wide shelves that reach the ceiling showcase various alcoholic beverages, which heighten the restaurant spirit. At the bar counter, most of the customers enjoy pairing with wine. A drink menu with a vast selection containing everything from cocktails to sake, to wine and popular Japanese whiskey, is very attractive as well.

The dining space has an open kitchen, and a highly advanced grill and a gigantic charcoal burner table are installed to symbolize the restaurant’s “evolving steakhouse” image.

The person in the kitchen, who cooks tactically with radiating orange-colored flares from burning Japanese Binchotan charcoal and American domestic oak charcoal is the executive chef, Steve Brown. He was hired for his previous cooking experiences in working for a high-end steak restaurant and other fine restaurants. His high skills for delicately adjusting temperatures and achieving perfect doneness of meat, and his house-made fermented hot sauce are highly praised.

The Wagyu menu of the day of my visit contained A5 Satsuma, A5 Ono, A5 Kobe, A5 Takamori, etc. In addition to wagyu, the main menu also contains 40-day dry-aged prime Angus Porterhouse, Ribeye ($110~130), Kurobuta pork chop ($65), etc. The A5 wagyu each had a unique taste of richness, juiciness, flavorful-ness, smokiness, umami, and deepness. It depends on your preference, but the most popular item on that day was Takamori, which was on the sweet side, and well-balanced. Its umami spreads all over your mouth, and lingers for a long time. When you cut into the nicely browned aromatic surface, a beautiful pink inside appears. The superb balance of fat, protein, and minerals only produced by wagyu beef is concentrated in the umami by grilling it on the strong Binchotan charcoal fire.

“Niku Steakhouse” is the one and only wagyu specialty steak restaurant in the US, which utilizes locally-specialized wagyu knowledge and evolving techniques.


米国随一、日本直輸入和牛専門ステーキ店オープン

和牛ブームがいよいよ本格化している。すでに米国のレストランからデリまで「Wagyu」メニューは日常的となった。しかし未だに米国での「Wagyu」のカテゴリは曖昧だ。そんな中、サンフランシスコ、デザイン地区に今年オープンした「Niku Steakhouse」は、日本産輸入和牛専門としてブランド和牛とA4-5 品質をしっかりアピールする新しいタイプのステーキ店だ。オープン以来連日フルハウスの人気を博している。

デザイン地区を含む 湾岸一帯は、大規模な再開発でIT ビジネス拠点へと変貌している。同地区ではこの３、４年ビルやマンションの建設ラッシュが続き、IT大手企業が流入し人口が激増、治安は改善されハイエンドのレストランが一気に増えた。この地区に早くから飲食ビジネスを始めた「Omakase RestaurantGroup」は、日本食やアジアレストランを次々とオープンさせ、繁栄店を続出させている。

同エリアに現在計６ 店舗を展開する同グループは、ミシュラン一つ星の「Omakase」からカジュアルな「Dumpling Time」、「 Udon Time」まで異なる業種とコンセプトを持つ。中でも「Niku Steakhouse」は最新鋭の設備と調理テクニックを駆使したハイエンドレストラン。同グループの経営陣は中国人で、強力なチーム編成で日本へのアプローチ、教育、ネットワークに独自のジャパンルートを持つ。同グループの業績と企画力でインベスターのオファーは後をたたない。近い将来、新規事業も予定しており、「Dumpling Time」は今年、渋谷に海外進出を果たしている。

　「Niku Steakhouse」の主役、高品質の和牛の品質管理に大きく貢献しているのが、レストランに隣接した「ブッチャーショップ」だ。そこで輸入調達、食肉処理を担当するガイ・クリムズ氏は、良質のブランド牛農家を訪ね日本国中を旅し大量買い付けをする中心的人物だ。同氏が吟味した和牛は、ここで部位に切り分けられた魂肉は、目的に応じ最適なオーダーカットが施される。各地方の気象条件や肥育の特性を生かしたステーキは、産地直送ならではの味わいだ。

ショップでは、和牛の特徴である美味しげな霜降り模様の切り身がまるでアートのように配列され、訪れる客の興味をそそっている。店内では各和牛の生産地、個体識別番号、鼻紋まで表示する徹底ぶり。他レストランのA5 和牛と値段を比べるとリーズナブルな理由について同氏は、「仕入れの量が違うから」と一言。店頭販売もしており、上質肉を余すことなく循環させている。先月からはランチタイムのみ「和牛ハンバーガー」の販売が始まり、客が殺到している。

広い店内は洗練されたモダンなイメージで、高い天井とガラスごしの中庭が落ち着いた雰囲気を醸し出している。入り口には美しいカウンターバーがあり、天井まで届く広い棚には多種のアルコール類がレストランスピリッツを掻き立てる。ほとんどの客はワインとのペアリングを楽しんでいる。カクテルから酒、ワイン、人気のジャパンウィスキーまでバラエティに富むドリンクメニューも魅力的だ。

ダイニングルームはオープンキッチンになっており、「進化するステーキハウス」を象徴すべく最新グリルと巨大な炭焼テーブルが備る。日本産備長炭とアメリカ国内オーク炭を巧みに操りオレンジの光を放ちながら調理するのは、同店のエグゼキュティブシェフ、スティーブ・ブラウン氏。高級ステーキ店やファインレストランのシェフ経験を経ての就任だ。肉を焼くのに微妙な温度や焼き加減の繊細さのテクニックと自家製の“ 発酵ホットソース” は定評を得ている。

この日の和牛メニューはA5 Satsuma,A5 Ono, A5 Kobe, A5 Takamori などで、メインメニューには和牛以外も40day dry aged prime AngusPorterhouse, ribeye（$110~130)、Kurobuta pork chop（$65) も並ぶ。A5和牛の味わいはリッチ、ジューシー、フレーバフル、スモーキー、旨味、濃厚とそれぞれが個性豊かで味わい深い。好みもあるがこの日の一番人気はTakamoriで、甘みが強くバランスが良い。旨味が口いっぱいに広がり長く残る。香ばしいブラウンの焼き加減でナイフを入れると色艶良いピンク色だ。和牛ならでは脂質とタンパク質、ミネラルのバランスが絶妙で、備長炭の強い火によって旨味が凝縮されている。

　「Niku Steakhouse」は、ご当地和牛の知識と進化する技術を駆使した米国唯一の和牛専門ステーキ店だ。