Namu Gaji Team Goes Fast Casual With Namu Stonepot

The Lee brothers — David, Dennis, and Daniel — have been bringing their unique brand of California Asian food to San Francisco since 2001 with the opening of the Mission’s Namu Gaji. Now the brothers are in major expansion mode, and come late fall, their first new project, Namu Stonepot on Divis, will open.

Alice H./Yelp

Namu Gaji's stonepot

The 21-seat space (in the former Jay’s Cheesesteak location) will focus on the stonepot as a serving vessel, holding dishes like that eponymous stonepot, kimchi stew, ramen, and more. There will also be several forms of mochiko fried chicken, the Japanese version that uses rice flour (so is gluten-free), as well as some cold salads. "It’s sort of like a deli, but done our way," David told Eater SF. Dishes will run between $7 and $25.

Takeout will be a major part of operations, and die-hard fans can even buy stonepots to bring various dishes home to heat up and serve, with portions dictated by the number of people. Then, once you own the stonepot, you can bring it back any time for a new set-up.

As for drinks, beer and wine will be curated by Bi-Rite's lead alcohol buyer Trac Le, who is focusing on mostly California wines with some European mixed in. "I’m planning to bring wines that are easy to drink (the French call it glou-glou) and meant complement the Lee’s Cal-Korean flavors," Le told Eater SF. "So think high acid, juicy, fruit-driven wines, plus lots of sparklings and pét-nat."

Brian Ford, who designed Namu Gaji, is working on this space, which should open late November or early December. The Lee brothers are certainly busy this coming year, as they focus on opening Namu Stonepot, Namu Noodle in Dogpatch, which will be a brewery/restaurant with noodle bowls for summer 2017, and another project in Jakarta, Indonesia. Stay tuned for more details.

• Namu Stonepot Will Move into Jay's Cheesteak Space in NoPa [ESF]