San Diego Chef William Eick has finally secured a location for his highly-anticipated Matsu Japanese-inspired fine dining concept and will be taking over the space in North County currently occupied by Flying Pig Pub for a summer 2021 opening.
Since summer 2019, Chef William Eick has been hosting multi-course, price-fixed tasting dinners from one table inside Mission Ave Bar & Grill in Oceanside, a gastropub where Eick serves as executive chef. Eick aimed to test his Matsu concept while waiting to find an ideal location to launch his restaurant.
With the nearly 10-year-old Flying Pig Pub soon relocating to the space previously occupied by Ramen Menma in downtown Oceanside, Eick has signed a lease to take over Flying Pig's original 2,400 square-foot building at 626 South Coast Highway. The Matsu team will be moving into the unit mid-March and starting renovations to transform it with a minimalist design complimented by Japanese accents such as preserved bonsai, darker wood tables, and elegant plateware to contrast the simple interior colors. During construction, Matsu will operate a to-go exclusive eatery dubbed Naegi (meaning "sapling" in Japanese), which will focus on Japanese fried chicken karaage, katsu sandwiches and onigiri rice balls. Eick will continue providing area restaurants with Japanese milk bread buns, rolls and loaves, which will also become available to the public.
With the nearly 10-year-old Flying Pig Pub soon relocating to the space previously occupied by Ramen Menma in downtown Oceanside, Eick has signed a lease to take over Flying Pig's original 2,400 square-foot building at 626 South Coast Highway. The Matsu team will be moving into the unit mid-March and starting renovations to transform it with a minimalist design complimented by Japanese accents such as preserved bonsai, darker wood tables, and elegant plateware to contrast the simple interior colors. During construction, Matsu will operate a to-go exclusive eatery dubbed Naegi (meaning "sapling" in Japanese), which will focus on Japanese fried chicken karaage, katsu sandwiches and onigiri rice balls. Eick will continue providing area restaurants with Japanese milk bread buns, rolls and loaves, which will also become available to the public.
The name Matsu is inspired by matsutake mushrooms, a pine mushroom native to Japan that also grows wild in some Southern California forests. Eick, who is known for using foraged ingredients combined with seasonal produce sourced from area farms, felt the name perfectly represented Matsu's concept of using local ingredients to prepare dishes with Japanese techniques and style. Matsu will have an a la carte menu with an eight course tasting option. The restaurant's full bar will be mostly wine to be expertly paired with dishes.
Matsu is expected to open as early as late June 2021 at 626 S. Tremont Street in San Diego's North County city of Oceanside. For more information, visit eatatmatsu.com and check out the sample menu below.
