CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO LONDON N. BREED, MAYOR OFFICE OF SMALL BUSINESS REGINA DICK-ENDRIZZI, DIRECTOR Legacy Business Registry Staff Report HEARING DATE DECEMBER 9, 2019 MUMS – HOME OF SHABU SHABU Application No.: LBR-2019-20-008 Business Name: Mums - Home of Shabu Shabu Business Address: 1800 Sutter Street District: District 5 Applicant: Isidore Tam, Owner Nomination Date: August 5, 2019 Nominated By: Supervisor Vallie Brown Staff Contact: Richard Kurylo
[email protected] BUSINESS DESCRIPTION Mums - Home of Shabu Shabu (“Mums”) is a family-owned Japanese American restaurant located on the first floor of the Kimpton Buchanan Hotel in Japantown. The restaurant was founded in 1979 as part of a project to bring Japanese culture to San Francisco by Kintetsu Enterprises Company of Osaka, Japan. It is currently owned by former employee Isidore Tam. Over the 40 years it has been in business, Mums has remained committed to bridging Japanese and American culture through its dining space and cuisine, becoming a vital gathering place for the surrounding Japantown community. Kintetsu Enterprises Company of America was founded in San Francisco in 1961 by Kintetsu Group Holdings of Osaka, Japan. The company sought to bridge Japanese and American cultures. They began in San Francisco, which had been Osaka’s Sister City since 1957. At the time, Japantown had recently undergone redevelopment so Kintetsu brought new life to Japantown by encouraging the proliferation of Japanese businesses in the area. They opened the Kyoto Inn in 1975 and, realizing that guests needed a place to enjoy Japanese food, opened what was then called Café Mums just four years later.