Naoki Uchiyama
Obachine Restaurant
Beverly Hills, California
Superstar chef Wolfgang Puck and his wife and partner, architectural designer Barbara Lazaroff have built a food empire that began with the legendary Spago Restaurant in West Hollywood in 1982. In the years that followed, Chinois on Main in Santa Monica, Postrio in San Francisco and Granita in Malibu were opened to much acclaim and success.
Additional locations for Spago have opened in such world class locations as Tokyo and Mexico City. The name Wolfgang Puck has become synonymous with great food.
In the fall of 1996, OBACHINE opened in Beverly Hills to further showcase the partners’ philosophy of fusion cooking, local ingredients and global experience. OBACHINE is categorized as an Asian Restaurant and Satay Bar, with influences from Malaysia, India, China, Korea, Japan and Thailand. The name is derived from the Japanese Oba (or Shiso) leaf, which is similar in taste to mint and is commonly used as a garnish and flavoring, and Chine, the French word for China.
Born in Shimane, a province of Southeast Japan and raised in Hiroshima City, Executive Chef Naoki Uchiyama graduated from Fukuyama Cooking School in Kyoto in 1980 and than moved to Los Angeles. After stints at L'Orangerie and La Serre, Naoki moved to New York to work with Makota Tanaka who eventually became Wolfgang Puck's executive chef at Chinois on Main in Santa Monica. Through Makota Naoki met Puck and became opening sous chef at Granita in Malibu, after which he moved on to Spago. In 1996, Wolfgang and Naoki developed the ObaChine concept, where he now guides the vision from concept, to menu, to execution, focusing on the freshness and quality of ingredients for each dish.
The two level restaurant features an enormous hammered copper bar (where you can snack on several kinds of satay) and small dining area on the first level, with exposed beams, sleek booths and massive vents painted terra cotta in the upstairs main dining room. Cane chairs decorated with an oba leaf motif surround the tables, and a tiled bar encompasses three sides of the open second floor kitchen. Authentic antique Burmese marionettes, Thai temple stone carvings, a variety of Vietnamese paintings and Japanese Obis further decorate the cultural and aesthetic experience.
Naoki has now had over a year to experiment and perfect Puck’s vision of an affordable, contemporary Asian cafe by reinterpreting the exotic for more mainstream tastes. OBACHINE’S menu appears as if someone has taken the best, authentic dishes from all over Asia and reassembled them together in an innovative presentation. Chinese potstickers, Vietnamese spring rolls, tandoori chicken from India and Pad Thai from Thailand are all here to deliver an eclectic and exciting Asian experience.
The atmosphere is luxurious, but the attitude is casual. The ingredients are exotic, yet the food is affordable. If you are looking for a stimulating environment and an intriguing culinary experience be sure to include OBACHINE in your dining adventure plans.
OBACHINE is located at 242 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. For information and reservations please call (310) 274-4440.
