Los Angeles food truck Yess Aquatic is getting ready to open its first brick-and-mortar in the Arts District, located at 2001 E 7th St.
The new restaurant will replace women’s clothing store Arch The in Spring or Summer 2022. This spot at the corner of 7th and Mateo St. was also the former home of State of the World, a temporary outdoor mural exhibition organized in collaboration with Art At The Rendon. Owners Junya Yamasaki, Giles Clark, and Jacob Himmel hoped to open the restaurant last year, but the pandemic delayed plans. As a result, the trio pivoted and started selling their seafood dishes from a new bright orange food truck.
The food truck was short-lived and closed towards last year in October. Now, Yamasaki is hosting a limited sit-down dinner series, although that too has been on and off due to the new COVID-19 variant. The 20-person supper club serves a tasting menu for the upcoming restaurant and features their selection of sake, shochu, and cocktails by Yukiyasu Kaneko.
The menu at Yess Aquatic will be taking its lead daily from a team of exceptionally talented and dedicated local fishermen. These fishermen, Captain Eric Hodge, Captain Evan and Cat Jones, and Captain Bailey Raith, have collaborated with Junya to put a viable system in place. They will be using traditional and cutting-edge techniques to bring a rich variety of local, wild seafood to us in the best possible condition.
This is a massive accomplishment for celebrated former London chef Yamasaki, who is known for his progressive and primitive take on Japanese cuisine. As for Keneko, the Sommelier has worked for some of the world’s standard-bearing natural wine establishments such as NOMA in Copenhagen and P Franco in London.
“We will not be importing ingredients or culture, but will be digging in, enjoying and expressing the land and sea we share here in southern California,” according to their website. “The adjacent YESS Coffee and Wine will shift the tempo and focus towards natural wines and sakes, and a more rugged and direct cooking that best accompanies them.”
