Reportage / São Paulo

Akkan: a hand roll with the last step left to you

Separating the seaweed from its filling gave the Nakka group's casual Pinheiros restaurant a simple way to make texture part of the meal.

WAYFARER Edition
December 20, 2023São Paulo
2 MIN READ

FROM THE WAYFARER BRAZIL ARCHIVE / English adaptation. Date shown is the original publication date.

Image from the WAYFARER Brazil archive.

Akkan’s defining detail was a small separation. The seaweed arrived apart from the filling, leaving the diner to complete the hand roll just before eating. Crispness became something to preserve at the table, not only in the kitchen.

WAYFARER’s December 2023 report described the Nakka group’s casual Japanese restaurant on a corner in Pinheiros, São Paulo. Chef Fábio Shinagava worked with a compact menu built around the grab hand roll and a less formal dining format.

The hand roll and its companions

The archive listed sea-bass crudo, a salmon batera hand roll with crisp elements, and a salmon-and-quail-egg version finished with a torch. Each offered a different combination without losing the participatory character of the format.

For dessert, spoon-served brigadeiro arrived with a nut crumble and strawberries. It introduced a recognisably Brazilian finish to a meal organised around Japanese references.

Sake, wine and cocktails supplied the drinks list. The Akkan Yuzu Sour described in the report combined sake, gin, yuzu, melon liqueur and mint.

A corner in Pinheiros

Evandro Andreoni designed the space, with outdoor tables making the neighbourhood part of the setting. The restaurant was presented as a place for a more informal meal, rather than a counter that demanded an extended tasting sequence.

These details record the 2023 account. Akkan’s most transferable idea needs no current price or timetable: sometimes the last action in making a dish is best left to the person who will eat it.

Adapted from the WAYFARER Brazil archive, first published 2023-12-20. English adaptation: 6 October 2026. This is an archival account, not a report of a new visit. Exhibitions, collections and menu details are described in their original context, not as current availability.