By M. T. Eley
It’s succeeded in London, Toronto, Miami and Doha, Qatar, but can Chotto Matte work in San Francisco?
Our city suffers from a lot of bad juju of late, from stories about crime and drug problems to restaurant closures. And while all that’s happening, here comes Chotto Matte, a big dream with a behemoth floor plan; IKEA-sized dining has arrived in San Francisco.
Chotto Matte is likely among the few chains in the world serving Nikkei cuisine — Japanese-Peruvian fusion, drawing on Japanese immigrant’s culinary innovations within the mountainous South American country. Walking into a Chotto Matte finds you in a moodily dark futurism setting with Restoration Hardware-esque furnishings and alluring scents.
In another life, I once went to the Doha location. It was fun to see all the beautiful people mingling in the funky beats, sipping cocktails the color of ferns and tropical blossoms. Doha was the perfect place for a rooftop bar; at night, the winds sighed breezily off the Persian Gulf, baring shoulders and loosening ties.
Slightly different is a San Francisco rooftop bar in late October. A stroke of genius, really: blue skies overhead for those early reviews instead of a foggy blanket nuzzling up against the tall buildings and driving influencers inside.
Chotto Matte is bold and has dedicated much of a spacious top floor overlooking O’Farrell and Stockton to outdoor seating and good, mostly fogproof views. Across Stockton, Macy’s and the brick backside of the Flood Building. On the other side of O’Farrell, the Phelan Building — San Francisco’s reply to the Flatiron Building — seems so close you could touch it.
The menu is expansive and expensive, and I cannot emphasize enough that this review covers only the general vibe as influencers say, a few drinks and a dragon roll. Donate to The Bold Italic for in-depth coverage of the $85-and-up multi-course offerings.
Chotto Matte brings to Union Square its “Tokyo to Lima” cocktail menu, a bevy of beverages with strong herbal overtones. While I had my heart set on the Union Square offerings, “exclusive to and inspired by our San Francisco location,” the server informed us that key ingredients for all of them were out. We instead went with the Kakigori and El Camino from the Tokyot to Lima collection: a vodka lychee-infused sherbet and tequila-mescal affair, respectively.
The Kakigori was smooth and creamy, a goblet of fruity, fluffy ice, delicious except the vodka was helping another customer. The El Camino was punchier, with tequila smokeyness mixing pleasantly with hibiscus and celery resolving into a refreshing saltiness. But for Chotto Matte’s sake, I hope the Union Square cocktail menu offers a little more liquid warmth in foggy summer nights to come.
Around us was a wonderfully diverse crowd. Leftover influencers, old couples, earnest couples, families with kids. Startup types, scouting the location for the next team dinner. Pregnant moms-to-be, tech bros meeting their girlfriend’s family for the first time. Note to self: Bass Pro Shop is now considered formal wear. “Come as you are,” as the bathroom hallway advises.
The dragon roll arrived, just in time to accompany the Story of Jade, a lime-green gin-and-supposedly-saké cocktail. The dragon roll: just fine, thinly sliced avocado melting perfectly atop a well-made rice roll containing crispy shrimp tempura. There are better sushi places in the city, some of them within four blocks, but none with a view. The Story of Jade, surprisingly like a fitness club refresher: fresh and earthy juniper melting softly into cardamom, lemon and cucumber. A little on the light side, or so I thought.
We paid our tab, and I took one last sip of the Story of Jade, finding all the saké right there at the closing chapter. As we made our exit, with the doors were closed and past the reflection, I could see the warm allure of tropical plants, glowing green in the last of the afternoon sun.
Is San Francisco ready for Chotto Matte? No question. Is Chotto Matte ready for San Francisco? Perhaps not. But it knows what it’s trying to be and we can ask nothing more. For now, it’s another view of the city in a city with no shortage of those. That may be less than it aspires to, but it’s a damn good town to look at. I recommend it to your CEO for the next team outing, or your girlfriend’s parents. Wear something other than Bass Pro.
// 50 O’Farrell St, https://chotto-matte.com/sanfrancisco/
M. T. Eley is a San Francisco-based writer.
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