Four years ago, Jerome Ito started searching for a space where he could fill what felt like a void on the Peninsula: a destination that would channel the konbini, coffee and artisan cultures of Japan.
On Monday, his vision finally comes to fruition. Yutori, a 5,000-square-foot space comprising a restaurant, café, deli, bar and market with Japanese ceramics and other products, opens at 3375 El Camino Real in Palo Alto.
It’s the most ambitious project yet from Ito, a former head sushi chef at Google who runs local poke chain Go Fish Poke Bar and udon shop Taro San Noodle Bar in Palo Alto. Yutori, which was inspired by Ito and his wife Linh Tran-Ito’s many trips to Japan, will operate all day, serving miso lattes and Japanese sandos during the day, then, eventually, cocktails and Wagyu steak at night. The café, deli and marketplace are debuting first and are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The restaurant will follow in about two months with brunch and dinner.
The serene, light-flooded space, which Ito and Tran-Ito designed themselves, has more than 100 seats, including on a sprawling outdoor patio and a carefully raked stone garden with Japanese maple and cherry blossom trees…