Rumors have been swirling for months about the high-end restaurant's move to 180 Hamilton Ave., but remained unconfirmed by both Nobu and Epiphany representatives until now.
The Epiphany’s restaurant, Lure + Till, will officially close on Jan. 2, 2017, to make way for the "anxiously awaited addition" of Nobu in June, McDaniels said.
"While the closing of our beloved hotel restaurant is bittersweet, we are thrilled to usher in a new era of dining here at The Epiphany, welcoming one of the most renowned, upscale Japanese dining experiences to Palo Alto," he said.
Lure + Till opened with The Epiphany Hotel in downtown Palo Alto in 2014. Photo by Michelle Le.
Planning documents submitted to the City of Palo Alto last month show minor proposed changes for the outside of the hotel’s ground-floor restaurant space, including new planters, outdoor gas heaters, patio light fixtures, door handles and handrails — and, of course, a new bronze, back-lit Nobu sign.
A rendering included in Nobu's project plans, submitted to the City of Palo Alto in October.
The restaurant space itself, however, will go through a "dramatic transformation," McDaniels said.
In the interim months between Lure + Till's closure and Nobu's opening, the hotel will continue to offer full dining options to Epiphany guests (24-hour room service, breakfast and bar/lounge service), McDaniels said.
Famed restaurateur and chef Nobu Matsuhisa operates restaurants in Beverly Hills, Malibu, Las Vegas, Aspen, Miami Beach and New York City as well as Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, Milano, Mykonos, the Bahamas and elsewhere. He opened his first restaurant in the United States (Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills) in January 1987.
Lure + Till opened with The Epiphany in March 2014. Lure + Till's acclaimed chef Patrick Kelly left the restaurant two months ago to relocate to Denver.
Former Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who partnered with Matsuhisa to build a hotel on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, bought The Epiphany last year.
Nobu representatives did not immediately return requests for comment.
