Oakland’s Delage Revives Lunch; POJ Brings Kintsugi to Berkeley

Two East Bay venues are spotlighting Japanese culinary and artisanal craftsmanship this month as Oakland sushi restaurant Delage revives midday lunch service under new owner Kyle Itani, reported Jeffrey Edalatpour in East Bay Magazine, while POJ Studio launches traditional kintsugi ceramic repair workshops on Fourth Street in Berkeley, Janis Hashe reported in East Bay Magazine.

Kyle Itani and Chef Jeremias Jimenez Revive Lunch at Oakland’s Delage

Earlier this year, Delage founder Chikara Ono handed over the 10-year-old restaurant — located in a quiet space adjacent to the food court inside Oakland's historic Swan's Market at 536 9th Street — to chef and restaurateur Kyle Itani, whose East Bay portfolio includes Yonsei Handrolls, Itani Ramen, and Hopscotch Chicken.

While preserving Ono's omakase vision, Itani and longtime employee and sushi chef Jeremias Jimenez (working alongside sous-chef Jairon) have revived Delage's lunch service after several years of dinner-only hours, operating Monday through Saturday for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 9 p.m., with a to-go program slated to launch in the coming months.

Receiving weekly fish deliveries from Japan — including spotted knifejaw (ishigakidai), tuna, salmon, yellowtail, trout, amberjack, snapper, eel, char, and sea bream — Delage now offers three midday lunch sets (each served with seaweed salad topped with a geranium petal and miso soup with tofu and brown shimeji mushrooms) alongside an à la carte menu:

• Lunch Sets: The nigiri set ($34) includes 7 pieces of sushi and sake hosomaki; the sashimi set ($29) features an 8-piece combination; and the maki set ($27) pairs tekka maki with spicy sake maki.
• Vegetarian & Dessert Selections: Vegetarian offerings include a citrus salad ($14), sesame green beans in miso-sesame dressing ($10), inari seasoned-rice tofu pouches ($6 for 2 pieces), and kanpyo or ume shiso maki rolls ($8 per roll), followed by strawberry panna cotta and mango-pineapple sorbet topped with candied almonds.

POJ Studio Brings Urushi and 24K-Gold Kintsugi Classes to Berkeley

In West Berkeley, POJ Studio US — led by director Tomoka Hayashi — is hosting limited-time classes in traditional kintsugi ("gold joining") at The Gardener at 1836 Fourth Street through at least November, with ongoing instruction available at POJ's permanent San Francisco studio.

Originating 500 years ago during the era of Japanese shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa as an alternative to metal-staple kasugai repairs, traditional kintsugi mends broken pottery using urushi tree sap lacquer mixed with clay powder and finished with 24K-gold powder, curing in a warm, humid humidor for up to 1 month.

Open to participants aged 13 and older who bring their own chipped or cracked glazed ceramic piece measuring less than 10 by 15 inches, POJ Studio offers three course tiers:

• "The Scene" ($170): A 2-hour introductory workshop covering cultural history during the first hour and initial piece preparation in the second.
• "The Act" ($450) and "The Ensemble" ($780): A 3-session series ($450) and a 6-session series ($780) that include all tools and 24K-gold powder and allow participants to work on their original vessel plus up to 3 additional pieces.