Yashin Sushi & Bar to double up with South Kensington restaurant launch
JYS Management, owned by ex-Ubon head chef Yasuhiro Mineno and fellow sushi chef Shinya Ikeda, has acquired the former Bistro K restaurant on Old Brompton Road.
The pair launched the original Yashin Sushi & Bar restaurant on Argyll Street nearly three years ago under the tagline Without Soy Sauce.
Daniele Codini, former chef de partie at The Fat Duck, has been brought on board to serve as the head chef at the new restaurant which will boast 110 covers, nearly double the size of the first site.
Seafood
The tagline of the first Yashin restaurant was a reference to the Edo-style sushi dishes on the menu which tried to remove the common Western misconception that sushi needs to be doused in soy sauce and wasabi paste.
Instead all the sushi at Yashin is served with toppings designed to enhance, not overpower, the flavour of the fish – truffle-infused Ponzu jelly, lime and chilli salsa and lightly-blowtorched parmesan are all used on the original restaurant’s menu.
Speaking to BigHospitality, Codini, who has also worked for Joel Robuchon in Paris, said the exact details of the menu were still under wraps but he revealed the new site would see the concept evolve.
“The next stage of the concept moves the focus from sushi to seafood,” he explained.
“The restaurant will be a 100 per cent seafood restaurant – there won’t be any meat on the menu. From the head to the tail, we are going to try to use every single part of the fish – the scales, the bones, the liver, the eggs, everything.”
Passion
The second Yashin restaurant is expected to be positioned at a similar price point to the first site. It will incorporate an 85-cover dining area, two private dining rooms for up to 20 guests and a 25-seat counter.
Five of the seats on the counter will be home to diners enjoying a chef’s table experience – they will eat from a special tasting menu.
Codini, who revealed the company’s Japanese owners were still keen on expanding the business despite the large gap between openings, said recruiting to fill roles in Asian and Oriental restaurants in the UK was still difficult.
However, although the restaurant is on the hunt for staff with at least a minimum level of experience, potential Yashin chefs are not expected to have extensive experience and applications from candidates from different backgrounds are being welcomed.
“We try to recruit a mix of chefs with different techniques and styles,” Codini revealed.
“We are looking for people with a passion for food – it doesn’t have to be people with tonnes of experience because we are ready and open to train. If someone comes to us and says they used to work in a restaurant with this technique which might interest us – we are open-minded to trying it and using it in a dish or incorporating it onto the menu.”
Yashin Sushi & Bar is currently recruiting to fill various roles ahead of the new restaurant launch. For more details and to apply for these positions, visit BigHospitality Jobs by clicking here.
