Open since September on University Avenue, a few blocks away from the UC Berkeley campus, @MasaRamenBistro is the brainchild of its namesake, chef Tim Masa Kawamoto. He and his partners in the venture, Clyde and Jackie Ulep, were born and raised in the Honolulu area, and upon arriving on the mainland, they identified what seemed like a surefire business opportunity. They met a lot of Hawaiians who’d relocated to the Bay Area, and, at the same time, they hadn’t been very impressed with the local ramen scene. “We just felt like there was a niche for it,” Kawamoto says. Head to @kqedfood / the link in our bio for more. ✍️/📸: Luke Tsai