107 Petaluma Boulevard North
Petaluma, CA 94952

Tel: 707.763.2300
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Hiro's Japanese Restaurant

Hiro Yamamoto

He is a former executive of Suntory, Japan's corporate behemoth involved in beverages, pharmaceuticals, restaurants, sports, music, film, resort development,
publishing and more. He was also CEO of the Japanese branch of the H.J. Heinz Company - another mammoth corporation - so he knows about fine food and wine.

Suntory owned Chateau St. Jean winery. Hiro came here and fell in love with Sonoma
County.


Mathieu Royer and Zach Woods, managing partners

Mathieu and Zach grew up together in Huntington Beach, California, and both attended the
University of California at Berkeley, majoring in English literature. While at college, they worked at the renowned Zuni Café in San Francisco, and Mathieu also worked at Harry
Denton’s, Tin Pan and Sushi Ran. While teaching English in Japan, Mathieu began working
in a wine café there and invited Zach to join him – in both endeavors. When Hiro made
plans for his restaurant, he knew just who to call.

Artist

Naoki Takenouchi, born in 1946, graduated from the Musashino Art College in 1967 and
specialized in wood block print and installation. Some of his art activities include a set for the modern ballet theater of Kagoshima Culture Center in 1975, 1983, 1984, 1985 and travels to India and New York.

Takenouchi’s art is simple, but multilayered, elegant, yet unreserved. The artwork at Hiro’s Japanese Restaurant represents Japanese authenticity with a twist. Takenouchi fuses his experiences in New York City and India resulting in a combination of modernist expression and Buddhist art. The interior design of Hiro’s Japanese Restaurant breaks away from stereotypical bamboo and rice paper screens and into the artistic vision of a
Japanese journeyman. Takenouchi’s dominating centerpiece is a 7’ by 21’ wood block print of an elaborate fish swallowing people, or purging people, depending upon the viewer’s perspective. Adorning the long white walls in the dining room are wire baskets that hold crumpled balls of artwork. Both at the entrance of the restaurant, and in the ladies room, Takenouchi created hand-carved tables out of exotic natural woods. The artist
created two large sculptures for the restaurant. The first, located behind the sake bar,
is a giant wooden piece that rises out of a martini glass onto the wall overlooking the bar patrons. The second, is a mysterious object made from crumpled Japanese paper that
hangs above the back wall of the restaurant.

He currently resides in Kagoshima, Japan.

Hiro Yamamoto, Owner

Toru Komura , Executive Chef

Zach Woods, Managing Partner

Mathieu Royer, Managing Partner