Hapa Bistro, a tiny restaurant in San Bruno, is serving French-Japanese fare.
The restaurant, which began its soft opening phase in mid-January, currently offers just two 12-person seatings for a four-course, prix fixe tasting menu ($70) per night. They’re still in the process of securing their beer and wine license.
Behind the scenes are owners Michiyo and Sohei Lappen, a Millbrae-based mother-and-son duo who began with a pizzeria, followed by a catering business. Then, Sohei’s brother moved to France for graduate school and stayed. As the family spent more time in France, they began learning more about French cuisine and dined at bistros where having a set menu at a set time eased staffing demands.
“I think that is what inspired us,” Sohei says. “Why can’t we have something like this, that’s really common in France?”
The first course of the $70 tasting menu at Hapa Bistro, a French-Japanese fusion restaurant in San Bruno, is Atlantic trout, spinach, pineapple and yuzu kosho. (Courtesy Sohei Lappen)
The restaurant’s name, Hapa Bistro, draws on the Hawaiian word for half, and is inspired by Sohei’s half Japanese, half European identity: “I want the food that I have at the restaurant to reflect my experience.”
The current seasonal menu, developed by chef Kai Midorikawa, who hails from Japan, includes cauliflower soup and crab tart, then a beef tongue taco as an appetizer, followed by a first course of Atlantic trout paired with spinach, pineapple and yuzu kosho and a main featuring a duck roast and port wine sauce. For dessert, there’s a housemade gelato featuring orange, custard and cacao nibs.
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The restaurant is set to start offering lunch Feb. 8.
Details: Open 6-10 p.m. Friday-Tuesday at 1590 El Camino Real, Suite I, San Bruno; hapabistro.com.
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