Known for their Japanese Tapas, necco is debuting a limited edition kaiseki style bento on September 1! Located in the heart of Los Angeles, the restaurant will offer the limited hexagonal three-tier bento, each filled with necco’s signature dishes. The vegetable tier is filled with okra, boiled lotus root and burdock root with sesame dressing, grilled eggplant, and house made pickles, while the protein tier comes with albacore nanban, roast wagyu beef, and yuan yaki style cod fish. The third tier comes with rice topped with salmon zuke don and includes ikura caviar and wasabi soaked in tamari soy sauce.
If the bento is not enough, there’s a tasting menu available during the dinner service, which includes both a vegan tasting menu and non-vegan options. Using traditional Japanese cooking with Southern California ingredients, Necco also offers a large variety of tapas style menu items including Japanese root vegetable pickles, vegan eel sushi, and grilled Australian wagyu. The menu was created by Executive Chef Kenji Koyama, who started his career at notable sushi bars in Los Angeles, then studied traditional edomae sushi in Tokyo. His inspiration comes from both sushi and Japanese shojin cuisine, which is a Buddhist way of food, use mainly vegetables.
Necco means roots in Japanese, and as its name suggests, necco uses variety of root vegetables such as gobo and lotus root each with its own health benefits; however, necco is not a vegetarian restaurant. The tapas style restaurant offers unconventional pairings of traditional Japanese flavors with vegetable-forward Southern California cuisine. To complement the meals meant for sharing, necco also offers a carefully edited selection of organic local Ojai wines and natural sakes from Japan.
