Yoshi’s Cafe in Lakeview closing after 39 years

It’s been six years since chef Yoshi Katsumura died, but his wife has kept the family’s Lake View restaurant, Yoshi’s Cafe, open.

Nobuko Katsumura said diners tell her, “it feels like Yoshi is still cooking.” They imagine he’s in the kitchen and that he could come out any moment and greet them, the way he used to.

“When I’m at the restaurant,” Nobuko Katsumura said, “I feel he’s still here. It has been six years, but I feel he’s still here.”

But after nearly four decades, the French-Japanese restaurant in will close on Dec. 12.

The white building with the maroon awnings at North Halsted Street and Aldine Avenue will go to a local buyer whom Katsumura would not identify.

But she said: “I‘m not selling to a developer. I think it’s a good thing for the neighborhood.”

Yoshi Katsumura pioneered the fusion of Japanese and French cuisine in Chicago. He trained in Japan with Hiroyuki Sakai, famed from TV’s original “Iron Chef,” in the intricacies of French cooking. At Yoshi’s Cafe, he used Japanese ingredients in French food, creating eclectic dishes like the sake-fused oyster shooters.

The Katsumuras emigrated from in the 1970s and opened Yoshi’s Cafe in 1982. With limited staff, Nobuko Katsumura recalls working alongside her husband, helping him peel carrots and potatoes.

The restaurant has been through several iterations. In the early years, Yoshi’s was a luxury-restaurant and offered more French dishes such as foie gras and pheasant. The Katsumuras renovated in 1995, and Yoshi’s Cafe became a more of casual, neighborhood venue. The menu included more affordable and healthier options, and the restaurant’s capacity doubled.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Yoshi’s Cafe became a favorite of Chicago filmmaker Lana Wachowski (“The Matrix,” “V for Vendetta”). Commenting about Yoshi Katsumura to the Sun-Times upon his passing in 2005, Wachowski noted: “Like all great chefs, his food gracefully united the unique with the comforting.”

In the past couple of years, like all restaurants, Yoshi’s Cafe has had to weather the coronavirus pandemic. The restaurant pivoted tocarryout and delivery, and some of its servers took on roles as drivers.

When outdoor dining was permitted, regular customer Marc Engel helped Nobuko Katsumura find tents for the patio. When Engel moved to Chicago 25 years ago, Yoshi’s Cafe was the first restaurant he visited with his partner. He’s been going ever since.

Eating at Yoshi’s feels like “you’re in your living room,” said Engel, who has rung in the new year many times at the restaurant. “I see Nobuko walking around and cleaning up my table, and I feel bad because I feel guilty, like my mom is cleaning up my dishes,” Engel said. “For [her] to hold on to this was unbelievable, unbelievable. Many people would have shut it down already. … This restaurant cannot be replaced. It’s impossible.”

For Nobuko Katsumura, the restaurant’s 15 full-time employees are her extended family, and most have worked at Yoshi’s for nearly 20 years. They call her mom, and they used to call her husband, dad. “They said they will stay with me until the last day,” she said.

Nobuko Katsumura, 69, has lived above the restaurant since it opened and will move a few doors down for what she described as “the next chapter of her life.” She said she plans to spend more time with her children and grandchildren.