Rintaro: Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California

Nestled behind a leafy courtyard in San Francisco’s Mission District, with the warm glow of lanterns illuminating well-worn wood counters, Rintaro is a beautiful escape; familiar and unexpected, bold and restrained. And its food is straightforwardly delicious: dashimaki tamago, juicy and piping hot, pork gyoza, each dumpling held together by a web of crispy batter, udon with hand-rolled noodles and a hot-spring egg, and a towering melon parfait with bright melon jellies that all but burst in your mouth. This is food that tastes both like Japan and California -- not fusion food -- but the food that you’d expect if the Bay Area were a region of Japan. Rintaro, the debut cookbook from this groundbreaking restaurant, translates the experience of a Tokyo izakaya to the home kitchen. Beautiful and idiosyncratic, Rintaro is both a master class in making homemade udon noodles, and plumbs the depths of true comfort in food, with recipes like its curry rice. With over 70 recipes showcasing insp