Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse sits across the street and adjacent to the Orange Peel in downtown Asheville. You know the spot, the one where it’s hard to keep up with what restaurant is currently there.
Loosely translated into English, Ukiah means, well, Ukiah. There really isn’t a definitive meaning to the word. Look at it backwards though, and it reads Haiku, and therein lies your meaning: structure and balance turned upside down, as the restaurant describes it.
More notable than the name are the credentials of the executive chef behind Ukiah. Dip into his resume and names such as Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Eric Ripert are impressively listed, among others.
