New Japanese comfort food restaurant now open in Palo Alto

When Demi Ebara moved to the U.S. from Kyoto, Japan, around 15 years ago, she was initially focused on the educational opportunities the move would provide for her four children.

But as time passed, she began to pursue her own educational path and went on to attend Foothill College, then San Jose State University, where she studied food science and graduated in 2015.

A professor there complimented her culinary skill, which she says gave her the confidence to consider starting her own restaurant.

She went on to start Demiya, a local collection of fast-casual restaurants specializing in Japanese curry and Japanese-western flavors. The restaurant now has five locations, in San Jose, Cupertino, Dublin, Fremont and Emeryville.

Now, the Cupertino resident is launching a restaurant with a different vision.

“I want to challenge myself,” Ebara says.

Called Demi, this new restaurant, which opened roughly two weeks ago in a quiet corner of downtown Palo Alto, offers sit-down service with Japanese breakfasts, lunches and dinners, blending Japanese and Western flavors — with Californian flair.

For breakfast, that means dishes like avocado toast topped with white miso avocado ($22), or chicken and waffles ($24), featuring Japanese karaage and dashi maple syrup.

For lunch and dinner, the menu features dishes like Japanese curry empanadas ($9), Yakiniku steak ($42), Japanese carbonara ($30), salmon with a spinach miso cream ($32) and omurice ($28), a fried rice dish wrapped in an omelet.

And for dessert, look for miso caramel or monaka matcha ice cream flavors or a yuzu sorbet ($12 each).

Additionally, a small Japanese garden in the restaurant’s backyard that will offer around 12 seats for outdoor dining is under development, and the restaurant is currently waiting on an application to be able to serve Japanese craft beer and sake, according to Ebara.

Details: Open 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5:30-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays at 407 Lytton Ave., Palo Alto; instagram.com/demipaloalto.