12 hours Ago
Stepping inside the slender, pale yellow restaurant that is Otomisan, you’re instantly transported to a time when streetcars and Jewish delis lined a multicultural Boyle Heights. Four red booths and a Formica counter for five greet you as you enter this tiny time capsule, which has been a fixture on First Street for 69 years. “It’s a neighborhood institution,” said Carlos Lazatin, a regular customer who lives downtown and eats at the restaurant once a week.
“Folks stop by just to say hi. This is not a fancy sushi or ramen joint. It’s Japanese home cooking, and it’s delicious.
” The oldest continuously operating Japanese restaurant in L.A., Otomisan was originally named Otemo Sushi Cafe when it first opened in 1956.
After a change in ownership, it was renamed Otomisan in the 1970s. When Yayoi Watanabe and her close friend took over the business in 2005, their goal was to keep alive the Japanese ties to Boyle Heights. Last year, Watanabe was ready to pass the baton to someone else.
Now under the ownership of Jeffrey Ige, the tiny, nostalgic eatery continues to serve homestyle Japanese dishes while preserving its rich cultural legacy. “They wanted it to go to someone who’s not going to change it,” said Ige, who took over the restaurant in July. Ige met Watanabe, who he calls “Yaya,” in 2016 while living in his grandmother’s apartment building down the street from the restaurant.
Working two jobs, he ate at Otomisan daily, often ordering oyakodon — chicken and egg simmered in a dashi broth and served over a bowl of rice. Ready to retire, Watanabe was eager to find someone just as passionate about preserving Japanese culture in Boyle Heights. Located just two miles from Little Tokyo in downtown L.
A., Otomisan symbolizes a time when working-class Japanese, Mexican, Armenian, Italian, Russian and African-American residents coexisted in an affordable neighborhood free of racist housing covenants. Ige grew up in Rowland Heights but has roots in Boyle Heights.
His grandmother, Harumi Aoki, owned a convenience store on 4th and Mott streets near Roosevelt High School and frequented Otomisan. She sold the store, bought a plot of land on 3rd Street and built an apartment complex, where Ige’s mother grew up. In town for his grandmother’s funeral in 2023, Ige stopped by Otomisan, and Watanabe asked if he wanted to take over.
“I’m very comfortable with the new owner. ..
. His cooking is very good, so I decided he’s OK,” Watanabe said, chuckling between bites. Having worked in restaurants since he was 19 and honing his skills as a chef at Sushi Ten in Chino Hills, LDH Kitchen, the Robata in Santa Monica and kitchens in Huntington Gardens and Little Tokyo, Ige finds comfort in homestyle cooking.
“It feels like you’re at grandma’s house,” Ige said. “My grandmother used to cook a majority of the food that Yaya cooks, like tempura, teriyaki chicken, katsudon, a lot of katsudon, tonkatsu. You’re not going to leave hungry.
” Running a restaurant while keeping Otomisan’s legacy alive is no small task. Regulars rely on old-school dishes like panko-covered fried pork cutlet tonkatsu, tender teriyaki chicken, flavorful udon and light and crispy tempura, which is Ige’s sister’s favorite. “My brother’s tempura is better than our grandparents’,” said Kristine Ige, 42, who’s been working as a host and server at Otomisan since October and exudes Watanabe’s same warmth.
“They made it good, but he makes it better.” Ige enlisted friends with restaurant experience for the initial transition. He hired a sous chef to help him in the kitchen and two servers for the front of the house.
As for the food: “I haven’t changed anything,” said Ige. “The only change I want to make is to restore the tile floors and fix the neon sign out front.” Keeping prices the same in a gentrifying neighborhood is the biggest challenge.
“I feel bad raising prices, but inflation skyrocketed this year,” said Ige. “I’m very lucky and fortunate that Yaya built such a great clientele that continues to support us.” Although technically retired, Watanabe, who lives nearby, comes in once a week to visit old customers and have lunch with the new crew.
A small pink mailbox sits near the front door for customers to leave her notes. A Polaroid camera is kept behind the counter for regulars to snap photos of themselves and write their names so Watanabe, who just turned 73, can remember them. “I don’t want her to feel like she’s not welcome,” said Ige.
“This is still her home.” Committed to honoring its designation as a historic-cultural monument , Ige meets weekly with Mariko Lochridge , a small business counselor with Little Tokyo Service Center , which preserves Japanese culture in L.A.
and is planning Otomisan’s 70th anniversary next year. Ige also works with Vivian Escalante , CEO of Boyle Heights Community Partners , which created the Otomisan history poster hanging on the freezer inside the restaurant. Together, they’re trying to get more information about the Nishiyama residence where Otomisan is located and talk to Arctic Hotspot owners Christina and Jonathan Mora, who grew up in the houses behind the restaurant.
“I want it to keep going for another generation,” said Ige. In preparation for Otomisan’s 70th anniversary, the Little Tokyo Service Center is in search of old menus, photos, records or personal memories related to the restaurant. If you’d like to contribute, the group asks you call (323) 526-1150, email jeff@otomisanrestaurant.
com or stop by the restaurant..
