Homareya Verified listing

Homareya—taking the storefront right next to Milana’s New York Pizzeria—promises truly traditional izakaya from one of our local masters: yakitori and sushi chef Yoya Takahashi.

With it, he brings a newly minted love for proper, forthright, uncomplicated Japanese food executed at a high level. Here, there are no bowls of miso soup accompanying your decadently dressed roll.

Instead, you’ll find yourself hovering over a bowl of sous vide chicken livers—insanely tender, cooked to pâté softness—layered with hyper-subtle hints of sesame and salt before being topped with translucent slivers of onion. Or devouring perfectly fried squid chunks paired with potatoes and a cool salad of asparagus and tomatoes. You’ll find plates of nigiri that allow the fish to speak for itself with just a subdued, seasoned rice and a bit of fresh wasabi. A potato salad that refuses to be drenched in salt—like much of Chef Yoya’s food—and instead lets cucumber and fried onion bits punch up the starch while a koji-joyu marinated onsen egg sits atop it.

It’s wonderfully Japanese—not Japanese-American, not Nikkei, not Japanese-adjacent. (Well, maybe a few things like his “Japa-dilla” he makes with a Sonoratown tortilla.)

There is something deeply compelling about Chef Yoya. Charming, loquacious, and genuinely gifted in the art of Japanese cuisine, he’s widely respected throughout the community. The team behind Tokyo Noir wanted him to lead their sushi program, but Yoya’s Homareya project had already taken priority. And it has rightfully garnered hype.

Written and photos by Brian Addison. 

For Brian Addison's full feature on Homareya, click here.