[ad_1]
For nearly three years, the iconic facade and tile floors of The Prolific Oven Bakery’s Palo Alto location sat empty, though renovations hinted at the opening of Ethel’s Fancy, a restaurant with a notable pedigree.
In January 2020, Foodist wrote about the project’s announcement and summarized chef and owner Scott Nishiyama’s distinguished career, which includes stops at Daniel, The French Laundry, and Yoshi’s, and serving as executive chef at Mountain View’s Chez TJ (yes, no we’re talking about a degree from MIT).
After a lifetime associated with these prestigious names and a two-year delay related to the pandemic, Nishiyama will soon open his own restaurant in downtown Palo Alto. It was supposed to open on July 27, but failed to pass all inspections in time.
“I’m a little hesitant to tell everyone about the places I’ve worked. At this point in my career, I no longer care for that kind of experience. I tend to do something more fun and casual,” Nishiyama said.
Ethel’s Fancy honors Nishiyama’s mother and grandmother, both named Ethel. He credits his mother’s cooking during his childhood in Hawaii and trips to his grandmother’s kitchen counter in Oregon for introducing him to different cuisines. He grew up with both glutinous, short-grain Japanese rice and the creamy texture of risotto.
Living in a fraternity where the brothers cook alone, Nishiyama first envisioned a culinary career while earning a degree in chemistry. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1996 and then the Culinary Institute of America five years later. For Nishiyama and his culinary school classmates, French restaurants represent the pantheon of culinary excellence, so he embarks on the Michelin path. After years of developing his skills, Nishiyama realized that this style of fine dining can sometimes be overly complicated and esoteric. It didn’t reflect the food he ultimately wanted to serve.
“I started thinking about what my place would look like, did I want to do French cuisine? The answer I came up with was “not really,” he said.
Nishiyama still appreciates some aspects of French cuisine, but his personal style is lighter and focused more on vegetables and seafood. He also draws from the diverse cuisines he has been exposed to since childhood.
Planning for Ethel’s Fancy began in 2017, and the team was ready to begin construction in March 2020, the month the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. In the following months, the development of a vaccine against COVID-19 was still uncertain and the project was almost put on the table. “We just stopped everything this year. Not knowing if we’re going to move forward or not,” Nishiyama said. After a difficult construction process delayed by supply chain issues, Ethel’s Fancy is finally ready to open.
The restaurant will prioritize shared, “interactive” dishes, where diners can dip chunks of yellow stone fruit into a cashew-dusted dip or assemble their own wraps. Unlike the fine-dining temples where he spent most of his career, Nishiyama aims to host guests at the bar and hopes families will visit several times a month to peek into the open kitchen. It envisions a community gathering space where diners will pass dishes around the table and have lively discussions about the appetizers they like.
Despite this more casual and generic approach, Nishiyama’s food still recalls his training and the attention to detail inherent in fine dining. Cucumbers are peeled so they have a nice striped pattern, and crispy pork belly, cut into uniform seared patties, is accented by grilled green peas and pink wedges of watermelon radish. Items will represent the changing seasons and feature local produce, including ingredients sourced from the downtown Palo Alto Farmers Market. Nishiyama has partnered with a general manager who also hails from the three-star Michelin world to offer a wine and cocktail program.
Appreciating the opportunity to open his own space, Nishiyama dedicates Ethel’s Fancy to the two women who supported him long before he could effortlessly shape quenelles (fish or meat with cream) or craft a menu pairing oxtail and octopus.
“I wanted the restaurant to be a very personal expression of everything I’ve done in my life, so what better way to do that (than) through a tribute to my mother and my grandmother,” he said.
Ethel’s Fancy, 550 Waverley St., Palo Alto; 650-561-4860. Instagram: @ethelsfancy.
Prolific Oven cakes can still be ordered online.
Check out the food news. Follow Peninsula Foodist on Instagram @peninsulafoodist and subscribe to the newsletter to get updates on the latest openings and closings, learn what Foodist is excited about eating, read exclusive interviews and stay up to date on local restaurant trends.
Anthony Shu writes about TheSixFifty.com, a sister publication of Palo Alto Online covering what to eat, see and do in Silicon Valley.
[ad_2]
Source link