Delage, the tiny omakase counter tucked into Old Oakland, has quietly changed hands. The restaurant at 536 Ninth Street reopened to the public on Sept. 16 under chef Kyle Itani, with Jeremias Jimenez now leading the sushi program, as founder Chikara Ono steps back to spend more time in Japan.
A Decade-Old Spot Gets New Ownership
Ono opened Delage in 2016 and built it into a destination for omakase in the East Bay, according to Berkeleyside. Now he has transferred ownership to Itani, telling The Oaklandside he was spending more time in Japan and trusted Itani with Delage. The restaurant's name itself nods to that founding era — it combines Ono's nickname “Dela” with the Kyushu dialect word for house, “ge,” per The Oaklandside.
The restaurant's intimate footprint hasn't changed. The ten-seat sushi bar and three additional tables make up the entire dining room, according to Delage's own account of its story. What has changed is the menu's scope: Delage has expanded its offerings to include à la carte sushi, takeout, and lunch service, on top of its core omakase dinner, as reported by The Oaklandside.
From Food Court to Fine Dining
Itani, who was born in Vacaville, brings a winding résumé to the sushi bar. He worked at Yoshi's in Oakland and San Francisco, Kozen in Sacramento, and yakitori shops in Sendai before opening Hopscotch in 2012, a restaurant that went on to earn James Beard Foundation accolades and a three-star review from critic Michael Bauer, per The Oaklandside. He later opened Yonsei Handrolls, Itani Ramen, and Itani Sushi.
Itani and Jimenez collaborated at Itani Sushi.
New Pricing, Familiar Craft
Delage now serves an eight-course omakase dinner for $140 per person, The Oaklandside reports — a notable jump from the restaurant's earlier identity. When Delage first opened in 2016, it was pitched as a more approachable omakase experience priced around $50 to $60, according to Eater SF, and a later iteration offered a $65 prix-fixe menu combining raw and cooked Japanese dishes, per KQED. The $140 price point under the new ownership marks a significant shift from that original, budget-friendlier concept.
Beyond the tasting menu, lunch now includes sets, The Oaklandside reports. À la carte options include hamachi carpaccio for $14 and a kaiso salad for $12. The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m., and is closed on Sundays.
Edomae Technique Behind the Counter
Jimenez brings an edomae-style approach to the sushi bar, with fish aged, cured and marinated, according to The Oaklandside. That technique pairs with Delage's longstanding supply chain: the restaurant receives fish boxes from Toyosu Market in Japan each week, a practice Delage's own site describes as central to its identity, and the featured fish changes with each delivery. The result, per The Oaklandside, is a weekly omakase that reflects the ichigo ichie concept — the idea that each dining encounter is unique and cannot be repeated.
The drink program has also been refined under the new ownership. Delage's cocktail menu includes Japanese whisky, sake and wine, curated by Daniel Paez, who serves as Itani Restaurant Group's resident bar manager, The Oaklandside reports.
Part of a Wider East Bay Sushi Shuffle
Ono's move to step back from Delage fits into a broader pattern across his East Bay restaurant group. He also opened Utzutzu, a seven-seat prix-fixe sushi restaurant in Alameda that softly opened to just a few customers at a time, according to East Bay Express. That restaurant's prix-fixe meal started at $80 per person during its soft opening before rising to $100 once it officially opened, the outlet reported — a pricing arc not unlike Delage's own climb from its original budget-friendly menu to its current $140 dinner.
