Update: Jiji is now being billed as a Middle Eastern restaurant rather than an Israeli restaurant.
Located just off Upper Street on Esther Anne Place, Jiji is billed as a casual yet refined space serving ‘elevated Japanese and Israeli cuisine in an environment reminiscent of a home kitchen’.
The menu is inspired by Wolkow's regular trips to Tel Aviv and has been developed by Sumosan’s long-standing executive chef Bubker Belkhit. It will be cooked day-to-day by head chef Jeremy Borrow.
Dishes from the launch menu include roast cauliflower with jalapeno sauce; ‘perfect egg’ with truffle polenta; flamed aubergine with tahini jalapeno and a selection of sushi dishes such as blow-torched scallop nigiri with crème fraîche and ikura; and sweet prawn and crispy quinoa sushi roll.
Designed by Design LSM, the restaurant will be decorated with eclectic artworks and also boast a corner selling homemade sauces, condiments and books, providing ‘a convivial and welcoming space where guests can feel at home’.
“I believe that Tel Aviv and Tokyo are two of the most innovative culinary capitals of the world,” says Wolkow. “In Tel Aviv, the way that chefs combine unusual flavours is very creative and inspiring, they favour raw fish dishes, and clean, fresh flavours which led me to the conclusion that a combination of Japanese dishes alongside Israeli could really work.”
Sumosan was founded in Moscow by Wolkow and her father Alexander and now operates contemporary Japanese restaurants in London’s Knightsbridge , Russia, France, Germany, Montenegro and the Middle East.
Like Sumosan, Jiji is backed by private equity firm Cain International.