TBD, a new izakaya from veteran sushi chef Ray Lee and yakitori specialist Tommy Cleary, is gearing up to serve dinner in March at the original Akiko’s address on Bush Street near Union Square. The project pairs Lee’s dry-aged sashimi and Akiko’s greatest hits with Cleary’s grill-focused cooking, including tuna Wellington, truffle agedashi tofu, soufflé chawanmushi and honey-butter chili chicken karaage. The team is aiming for an ambitious yet night-out-friendly price point, with tabs expected to range from $100 to $120 per person, and they have signed a five-year lease on the Bush Street space.
According to The San Francisco Standard, the restaurant is operating under the working name TBD while the chefs lock in the final details, with a March dinner launch on deck but no exact opening date yet. The outlet reports early menu standouts such as dry-aged sashimi, a tuna Wellington wrapped in nori and puff pastry, truffle agedashi tofu and soufflé chawanmushi, and notes that the co-founders expect guests to spend about $100 to $120 per person. The Standard also points out that the lease on the Bush Street storefront runs five years and that Lee and Cleary first linked up over Instagram, testing dishes side by side before deciding to join forces.
The chefs and their track record
Lee, who ran Akiko’s before moving its operations to the East Cut, brings decades of sushi counter experience along with a loyal following of omakase regulars. Cleary built his name with Hina Yakitori, a tightly focused yakitori omakase that drew hardcore fans before closing in 2023.
Eater SF reported that the two chefs workshopped dishes at Lee’s Friends Only dinners, playing with both Akiko-style and Hina-style plates, and originally eyed a fall 2025 debut for their joint project. That backstory underscores that TBD is not a spur-of-the-moment idea but the product of months of testing and collaboration. Both chefs are known for intimate, counter-centered formats in past ventures, a pedigree they say will inform TBD’s a la carte izakaya setup rather than a rigid omakase progression.
Yakitori, rethought
Cleary plans to dry-age heritage Rhode Island Red chickens for three to seven days, then grill them over Kishu binchotan, a white charcoal from Wakayama Prefecture prized for clean, intense heat. In a twist that will raise eyebrows among yakitori traditionalists, he does not plan to serve the chicken on skewers. Instead, cuts will be arranged in custom wooden boxes that resemble kaiseki-style compartments more than a typical yakitori bar, a presentation the team says is meant to highlight differences in texture, smoke and seasoning from bite to bite.
That format is part of a larger effort to mesh Cleary’s fire-driven grilling with Lee’s sashimi work and small-plate sensibility, an overall approach described by The San Francisco Standard. The goal is a menu where charcoal-kissed chicken and delicate slices of aged fish feel like they belong on the same table, not in separate restaurants.
Where it will land and why it matters
The restaurant will sit at 431 Bush St., the original Akiko’s storefront in the Union Square area, a high-visibility downtown corner that local observers have been watching as a bellwether for the city center’s dining comeback. The San Francisco Chronicle placed TBD on its list of anticipated openings, citing both the space’s history and the broader question of whether marquee chefs are ready to reinvest in downtown addresses.
With a relatively modest five-year lease, the team has framed this run as a trial period, a chance to see how the concept plays in the current market before deciding whether to rename, relocate or double down on the Bush Street spot. In other words, the next half-decade is a live test of how far a high-concept izakaya can go in a neighborhood still figuring itself out.
What to expect
TBD will start with a la carte dinner service, with lunch planned further down the line, and the chefs say they aim to be a place regulars can hit on repeat rather than a once-a-year splurge. Eater SF noted that test dinners bounced between Akiko-inspired plates and Hina-style skewers and sides, so diners can expect a mix of grilled dishes, small plates and dry-aged sashimi instead of a single rigid format.
TBD’s debut will effectively serve as a litmus test for whether ambitious, small-plate Japanese cooking can thrive in the evolving downtown restaurant scene. If the March launch lands as planned, the combination of showy, camera-ready dishes and serious counter craftsmanship could turn this Bush Street comeback act into one of Union Square’s most-watched new arrivals.
