Imari Brings Washoku to the Westside

I was fortunate to be one of a few food writers invited to the opening night of full dine-in service at Brentwood’s Imari restaurant.

Imari has been providing three different bento boxes for take-out dining and they opened to public inside and patio dining this week. The cozy space which previously was home to Nagao restaurant now houses 28 indoor dining seats, a long bar to watch all of the chef action with eight seats and a nice al fresco patio with 22 seats.

The long intimate space includes tile and wood flooring and small leather booths. Similar to restaurateur Philip Camino’s Westwood restaurant Fellow and Hudson in WeHo, art and music combine with Imari’s unique menu to create an inspiring space. A huge hand painted mural accents the space, as well as traditional Japanese porcelain and interesting sake bottles.

For the past few months Imari has provided take-out washoku bento boxes. Chefs Derek Wilcox (Shoji) and David Schlosser (Shibumi) have created a unique and harmonious menu for the now open in person dining at Imari.

We began our culinary journey with the refreshing Moro-kyo, four local cucumber varieties with brown rice miso. Next came fresh in season tomatoes with fresh yuba and sea salt and the fresh sashimi for the day; a delicious striped jack fish. Next came grilled striped bass with lotus root. Our favorite dish was the tender Kagoshima Wagyu steak with fresh wasabi. We also sampled delicious Hirame (sesame and dai dai) and marinated tuna with avocado hand rolls.

Desserts are in collaboration with Sweet Rose Creamery and feature red shiso sorbet with raspberries and milk ice cream with fresh mocha and sweet green pea.

The saki list is extensive and features sake from a variety of Japanese regions offered by the bottle and by the glass. The wine list is limited but includes a variety of wines from Greece, Slovenia, Spain and California.

Imari is a perfect intimate spot to catch up with friends, share a variety of sake options and enjoy their unique seasonal washoku Japanese dishes.

Imari is located at 13050 San Vicente Boulevard, street parking available.

Reservations at 310.451.7733 or https://www.imari-la.com.