Hapa Ramen: Richie Nakano’s bold moves in the kitchen

Richie Nakano’s bold moves in the kitchen [...] hosting pop-ups is a popular way to enter the restaurant business, as shown by places like Hillside Supper Club and Lazy Bear. The road to his brick-and-mortar location in the Mission would make an interesting case study in restaurant development on several fronts. In 2011 Nakano found a space on Fillmore, but it turned out not to be the right fit and it became part of the newly opened Progress, the sister restaurant and next door to State Bird Provisions. Hapa is also a story of how trends, in this case ramen, move to the mainstream, fueled by the young tech set who probably had already been eating instant versions at their desks. In the fall he debuted his concept in what was once a 99 Cent Store; the sign is still visible, painted black like the rest of the facade of the Mission Street building. Inside, Geremia Design has turned the 79-seat space into an urban jewel by painting out the wood ceiling and duct work a deep red, and building open, light wood tatami-like booths along one side. Two rows of communal tables — one bar height — offer seating in front of the open kitchen, and a 10-seat bar with a lattice canopy visually frames shelves lit from behind so the bottles glow like precious gems strewn across a jewelry counter. Even though ramen is the main event, the restaurant’s strength is what precedes it: the eight or so shared appetizers, including a contender for the best fried chicken around. The buttermilk-marinated nuggets are piled into a steamed bun ($5) with bread-and-butter pickles and hot sauce. A similar irrational blend of ingredients also works on the terrine of foie gras ($20) draped with a thin orange layer of rhubarb gelee and set next to pools of white chocolate and buttermilk foam, techniques Nakano no doubt learned at one of the Western restaurants where he previously worked. Line-caught ahi tartare ($16) consists of jewel-like chunks of fish blended with avocado, sprouts, uni emulsion and dollops of caviar on a crisp chip. Even Nakano’s shaking beef tenderloin ($13) has unexpected surprises; the rice bowl is topped with cubes of beef, along with shrimp, calamari and a soft egg — lots going on but it wakes up the palate. Another top dish, and one I had to order on each visit, was the shaved Brussels sprouts salad ($9) molded into a rectangle studded with cara cara oranges and smoked enoki, all tossed with an egg yolk and sherry vinaigrette and scaled with crisp fried Brussels sprout leaves. Ironically, the most disappointing of the shared appetizers, and one that would seem to be in the wheelhouse of a ramen restaurant, was the pork dumplings ($11). Served in spicy oil and a sanbaizu sauce made of vinegar, mirin and soy, they had a robust flavor but a too-flabby texture. Over three visits it felt as if the kitchen was still trying to figure out the right formula for the ramen, which is surprising given that this has been the Hapa specialty for so long. Slices of fatty pork grilled over binchotan, a traditional Japanese white charcoal, seemed to float over the cloudy broth and obscured the noodles. Hapa Shoyu Ramen ($9/$16) with slow-cooked pork broth is studded with cauliflower and a generous sheet of dried nori along with pork belly and nuggets of fried chicken that nest on the whole wheat noodles. The most interesting version is the Miso Market Ramen ($8/$15) where the noodles and a changing array of vegetables are surrounded by miso and roasted carrot broth with a subtly sweet, complex flavor. Diners have the option of eight add-ons to the ramen, including grated foie gras ($8), sesame paste ($2), slow cooked egg ($2), spicy oil ($1), an aged gruyere and onion crouton ($4) and a side of kimchi ($6). Dessert includes chocolate pudding in a ramekin topped with coconut toffee crumble and a dollop of whipped cream ($8) or house made coffee ice cream ($4), which again revealed inconsistencies in preparation. While Hapa Ramen has a market-driven sensibility similar to such places as Ramen Shop in Oakland, the execution isn’t as precise.