Offering traditional hard-to-find Japanese grocery items and ingredients in addition to ready-to-eat prepared foods like their signature yakitori, the new Toriman Japanese Market in Capitola is owned by Yuko Asaoka and her life/business partner Kaito Akimoto.
Asaoka grew up in both Hokkaido, Japan and the industry, working in her parents’ yakitori restaurant there from childhood. As a young adult, she moved to New York to take dance classes and continue her industry career, and then came to San Francisco where she met Kaito, who has a chef’s background with extensive professional cooking experience.
He is also an avid surfer, so they found themselves in Santa Cruz often before eventually moving here, but lamented having to travel back to the Bay Area for authentic Japanese grocery items, which planted the inspirational seed that would become Toriman.
They already had proof-of-concept for their yakitori, traditional Japanese street food grilled chicken skewers, after starting a successful local pop-up/catering business. In addition to the yakitori (currently offered on weekends only), other prepared food favorites available at Toriman include bento boxes with grilled salmon or ground chicken, miso soup with pork and veggies, rice bowls, and slow-simmered beef sukiyaki.
On the market/grocery side, authentic off-the-beaten path items include Hokkaido-imported kombu, yuzu citrus paste, dashi, bonito, and high-end soy sauce. Beverages also track traditional with teas, a sweet yogurt-based drink called Calpico and sparkling juices in yuzu and ume (Japanese plum) flavors.
Describe growing up in the industry.
YUKO ASAOKA: From a really young age, I would help out in my parents’ restaurant – bussing, serving, cooking and even dishwashing. It just felt like normal life for me, I didn’t plan on owning my own restaurant, but without that experience as a child I would not be where I am today. That experience from such a young age has proved very valuable for me throughout my industry career.
What do you hope to bring to the community?
Many Japanese ingredients and snacks that people have maybe never seen or heard of, and traditional Japanese cooking tools too like clay pots, cooking knives, tongs and chopsticks. We offer authentic grab-and-go Japanese convenience foods that are a big part of Japanese culture and something that American tourists visiting Japan often really love. We want to bring a taste of Japan to Santa Cruz.
3555 Clares Street Suite G, Capitola, 646-641-2147
