KUSAKABE

KUSAKABE is a Kyoto-kaiseki omakase restaurant in San Francisco's Jackson Square, founded by chef-owner Mitsunori Kusakabe, a Kyoto native and 2008 World Sushi Champion at the Eat-Japan World Sushi Awards. The restaurant earned Michelin stars in 2016 and 2017, and Kusakabe is also a licensed fugu (blowfish) cutter — one of the rarest culinary certifications in the U.S. SF Chronicle critic Michael Bauer credited it with defining what a true omakase experience could be.