{"id":32846,"date":"2023-01-21T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2023-01-21T16:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000029474"},"modified":"2023-01-20T11:34:48","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T19:34:48","slug":"yasu-ties-the-whole-world-into-one-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/news\/yasu-ties-the-whole-world-into-one-restaurant","title":{"rendered":"Yasu ties the \u2018whole world\u2019 into one restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone taking a stroll along Second Street lately may have noticed a relatively new boutique restaurant with a Japanese name: Yasu.<\/p>\n

At first glance, one might assume that Yasu is a Japanese steakhouse, or perhaps a sushi restaurant. Is it? Let\u2019s just say that owner George Stavros is well-traveled.<\/p>\n

From New York to Mykonos, he\u2019s brought his family’s favorite dishes from around the world to Yasu, which he and his two sons, Dimitri and Ted Stavros, opened in the heart of Belmont Shore over the summer.<\/p>\n

Even the restaurant’s name has multiple interpretations\u2014with a different spelling, \u201cyassou\u201d means \u201chello\u201d in Greek, Stavros explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought the whole world into one restaurant,\u201d Stavros told the Business Journal.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Yasu’s king salmon is served with crunchy garlic chili broccolini. Photo courtesy of Brandon West\/Vision 360 Media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All of the menu items are personal. Many were drawn from international cuisine the Stavros family has tried somewhere along their travels, others, like the “teddy roll,” are family creations.<\/p>\n

For now, Yasu is a sleek nighttime restaurant. It\u2019s where you\u2019ll find low lighting, shining monochrome flooring, decor with color contrasts and uptempo music as soon as the patio and doors open at 5 p.m. In February, Stavros said he and his sons will begin brunch service on Saturdays and Sundays.<\/p>\n

Yasu\u2019s menu is partially organized by temperature. Under \u201ccold,\u201d you\u2019ll find adventurous takes on sushi rolls, tacos as well as Greek and Italian inspired small plates. The “strawberry roll” packs a unique punch of flavors, combining salmon with shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado\u2014and strawberry, of course.<\/p>\n

\"\"
George Stavros and his family have brought all of their favorite dishes that they’ve tried around the world under one roof. Yasu offers unique takes on everything from sushi to pork chops. Photo by Kat Schuster<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Under the \u201chot\u201d section, patrons can peruse a whole other spectrum of unique offerings from fried chicken to mussels. The Spanish octopus\u2014with chorizo, hummus, butternut squash and achiote marinade\u2014was based off of a dish he tried in Marbella, Spain. Yasu\u2019s pork chop comes from a trip to New York City and is served with a cauliflower mash with mushrooms.<\/p>\n

The filet mignon, with truffle ponzu, crispy onion and kale chips, was inspired by a dish Stavros\u2019 family tried at a Japanese restaurant in Greece\u2014a subtle hint to where the name Yasu (or Yassou) was drawn from.<\/p>\n

Yasu also offers a beer, wine and Champagne selection as well as a list of craft cocktails made with Sabe vodka, Sabe tequila and Sabe rum\u2014distilled spirits with sake blended down to the legal limit of beer and wine, Stavros said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
From fried chicken to sushi, George Stavros and his family have curated a menu that reflects their travels. Photo courtesy of Brandon West\/Vision 360 Media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t tell the difference,\u201d he said of the spirits within cocktails like the island dream, strawberry lemon drop, spicy margarita and rum old fashioned.<\/p>\n

Stavros also advises patrons not to skip over some of the more familiar menu items, like the cheeseburger, which is basically a blend of beef and bacon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis cheeseburger is out of control,\u201d he said. \u201cI own fast food restaurants and I\u2019ve always wanted an amazing burger\u201d on this menu.<\/p>\n

Stavros has been in the food business since he was 20 years old, when he first got involved in building restaurants as a contractor. Now, he owns two fast food restaurant chains\u2014Hot Off The Grill and Mr. Pete\u2019s Burgers\u2014which have eight locations throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties.<\/p>\n

Having grown up in Belmont Heights and Huntington Beach, Stavros has warm memories of frequenting Second Street with his family. Yasu was something he felt strongly about bringing to the seaside dining corridor.<\/p>\n

Yasu \u201cbrings a vibe \u2026 it\u2019s hip, it\u2019s chic. We wanted to make it a boutique-type restaurant that people could dress up or not, have a nice date night or celebratory family night,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just something that I felt was needed on Second Street.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yasu, at 5201 Second St., is open from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 5 to 11 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Brunch service will start in February on Saturdays and Sundays.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even the restaurant’s Japanese name has multiple interpretations\u2014with a different spelling, \u201cyassou\u201d means \u201chello\u201d in Greek, the eatery’s owner explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":72244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2002],"tags":[257],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32065],"class_list":["post-32846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-small-business","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32846"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=32846"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=32846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}