The name is an ode to her mom. So was the courage to open a dream with a friend in the middle of a gut-punch recession.
Shihomi Sakai Borillo remembers first leaving her family to attend college in San Diego. She didn’t speak a lick. She took a job as a dishwasher, was treated as a discard. Then she knocked on a different door and chef Nao Ichimura answered. He gave her a job, mentored her, and Azuki—and their omakase-only concept a few doors down, Kinme—is the manifestation of that friendship.
Azuki started as an if-you-know locals’ spot 18 years ago. It was low-key, unfussy. Shihomi was a rare elegance as a host (much of which she learned working at the famed Sushi Ota), and Nao’s sushi was pretty unbeatable. Shihomi got deep into local farms and fishing and ranching, dug deep into the best-local-ingredients worldview. Now, with French-trained chef de cuisine Kevin Alvarado, their spots in Bankers Hill have evolved into two of the best restaurants in the city.
An omakase from Nao is always the right call. But also get the Miyazaki Wagyu Dumplings from Alvarado—Wagyu trimmings are ground with shiso and cabbage, then makes a sauce using ponzu, sesame, chili oil, and rendered wagyu fat.
During the pandemic, the trio took a DIY upstairs patio they’d had for years and renovated it into a stunning perch. Shihomi took pottery classes at San Diego City College, and now the bowls in the restaurant are from the work of her classmates—a group project and showcase of local art, with toro.
