Shizuku by Chef Naoko was a
Japanese restaurant in
Portland, Oregon. Chef and owner Naoko Tamura opened Chef Naoko in 2007 and rebranded the business to Shizuku by Chef Naoko in 2017. The rebrand accompanied a redesign by Japanese architect
Kengo Kuma. The restaurant earned Tamura a
James Beard Foundation Award nomination in the Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific category in 2020. Tamura announced the restaurant's permanent closure in 2023.
Description
Shizuku by Chef Naoko was a Japanese restaurant on Southwest Jefferson Street in Portland.[1][2] Alex Frane of Eater Portland described the restaurant as a "beautiful space that hovers between traditional and contemporary Japanese design, and that honors the food served at Shizuku".[3]Willamette Week's Matthew Korfhage called the space "an ethereal world of sunlight and undulating bamboo screens".[4]
Chef and owner Naoko Tamura opened Chef Naoko in 2007.[7] The restaurant was rebranded to Shizuku by Chef Naoko and redesigned by
Kengo Kuma in 2017.[8][9][10][11] In February 2018, Shizuku closed temporarily to convert to a
omakase format.[12]
Shizuku closed temporarily during the summer of 2022 to "reorganize ... operations around the many post-pandemic challenges" and set up a "new format". The restaurant re-opened for takeout service in January 2023.[6] In June 2023, Tamura announced plans to close Shizuku permanently on June 23.[13]
Reception
The restaurant won the Design of the Year category at Eater Portland's annual Eater Awards in 2017.[8] In 2020, the business earned Naoko a
James Beard Foundation Award nomination in the Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific category.[14][15]