Be sure to make a reservation to experience kappo-style cuisine at this lovely space featuring a few tables and a counter crafted from a centuries-old cypress tree. The service is wonderfully engaging and attentive, while Chef David Schlosser takes traditional Japanese dishes (and ingredients) and gives them a contemporary boost in his à la carte or multicourse tasting menus. Highlights include starters of seasonal produce, as in the white asparagus and three-cornered leeks with a mustard miso, as well as main dishes like cherry bark-smoked and grilled sea trout or Santa Barbara lobster zosui with rice, seri herb, and pickled vegetables. Finish with koji ice cream or grilled walnut mochi with Okinawan sugar syrup.