Nabe Brings Nabemono Hot Pots To Inner Sunset

Grid View

• 18 sake boxes mounted onto the wall

The Inner Sunset is getting a new Japanese hot pot joint, but it's not going to be like the shabu shabu places all over everywhere in San Francisco. The joint's name, Nabe, comes from nabemono, a genre of Japanese soups and stews encompassing many options. For example, Nabe's chef Isamu Kanai will feature soup bases like warishita made with sake and soy milk, traditional konbu, red miso, dashi, and more. Meats range from Washugyu beef to Hokkaido scallops and Kurobuta pork belly. And there are ten more possible add-ons (like Shimeji mushroom), and five different noodle/rice options, including mochi. The full menu and design details follow.

Owner Hilwin Wong has commissioned designer Alan Tse to create a very authentic-style Japanese decor, with a customized sake wall (pictured, above) as a major focal point. The names of each sake are etched onto 18 different pine wood sake boxes mounted on the wall. There is also a gorgeous custom-made wood grid ceiling, and a long communal table will run the entire length of the space, playing into the communal nature of nabemono eating in Japan. Nabe should be opening in the middle of December. Now do take a moment to peep this menu here:

Click to enlarge:

Nabemono hot pot, like shabu shabu, but different. [Photo: CNN]

UPDATE: Chef Isamu Kanai writes in to report that he was just a consultant on the project for a short time and is no longer employed by Nabe. His main job is executive chef at Bushido Izakaya in Mountain View.