Brands I’ve helped create
Restaurant consulting.
From concept to opening.
I help shape your concept, menu, and guest experience. Across cuisines, with a Japanese specialty.
01 / Japanese-style cocktail bar · Long Beach
An intimate bar, inspired by Tokyo.
02 / Modern Mexican · Long Beach
The shared-plate spirit of an izakaya. A modern Mexican restaurant.
03 / Sushi & Izakaya · El Segundo
Sushi izakaya. Seafood small plates. Raw bar.
04 / Vietnamese dining · Los Angeles
Pho, banh mi, and Vietnamese dining in Los Angeles.
05 / Neighborhood Taqueria · Redondo Beach
Birria tacos, burritos, and sides.
Selected concepts. Shared work with chefs and teams.
Restaurant consulting
Let’s build a better restaurant.
Whether you’re starting a new concept or improving an existing restaurant, I can help with the food, branding and systems that make it work.
Let’s talk about your restaurantHands-on support
Find what’s holding your restaurant back.
I work with you to identify what needs attention and make improvements, from the menu and service to food costs, staff training and day-to-day systems. We focus on what your restaurant actually needs.
01 Menu, service and food costs.
02 Staff training and day-to-day systems.
03 Practical changes based on what your restaurant needs.
Click-to-play CBS LA segment featuring Tokyo Noir with Kevin Lee and Jesse Duron. The embed loads only after interaction.
About Us
Restaurant experience, English and Japanese.
TDG is Jesse Duron’s independent restaurant consultancy. He works across cuisines, with a specialty in Japanese dining and more than 20 years of restaurant experience.
Real restaurant experience.
Jesse’s experience comes from building, opening and running restaurants. He’s worked the floor, trained teams, developed menus and helped turn around struggling operations. Today, he brings that hands-on experience to the brands he owns and the restaurants he works with.
Clear English and Japanese.
Jesse helps make menus and service explanations clear for U.S. guests and Japanese teams.
For restaurants opening in the U.S.
Jesse helps teams plan menus, pricing, staffing and opening schedules for U.S. restaurants.
Selected Work
Our Work.
Selected concepts from Jesse’s restaurant experience. Each reflects work shared with its team.
Japanese-style cocktail bar / Long Beach
A little of Tokyo, in Long Beach.
Inspired by three to four Tokyo trips each year, Tokyo Noir brings an intimate bar feel to Long Beach. Jesse shaped the space, name, and branding, developed the food direction with the chef, and collaborated on the cocktail program.
Japanese restaurant experience / Los Angeles
Hands-on restaurant turnaround.
Jesse helped turn around Hamasaku, a Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles.
Restaurant and bar context / Long Beach
The shared-plate spirit of an izakaya.
El Barrio Cantina brings the shared-plate spirit of an izakaya to a modern Mexican restaurant. Jesse helped shape the concept and food direction, pairing smaller dishes with a strong cocktail program in Long Beach.
Tokyo NoirPhotography & brand details+
Cocktail photography by Jesse Duron
More from the collection
Explore all six restaurants
Concepts and operations
How We Help.
For new concepts, planned openings or existing restaurants that need help with menus, branding or operations. Scope and fee are agreed after consultation.
01 Concept fit
Restaurant name, target guests, branding, photography and how the concept is explained.
02 Menu and pricing
Menu structure, signature dishes, ingredient sourcing and prices.
03 Service and beverage
Sake, shochu, whisky, cocktails, non-alcohol options, service steps, staff language, and training needs.
04 Opening risk
Staffing, prep burden, vendors, reservation flow, guest education, and decisions that can create problems after launch.
What you can expect
A clear next step.
- A written plan with clear notes and priorities.
- Menu, beverage, service, atmosphere, and language notes.
- Priority list for design, opening, or investor decisions.
- Optional implementation plan if deeper support is needed.
In the Spotlight
In the Spotlight.
Public coverage is included as context for venues connected to Jesse's work. It is not an endorsement of TDG consulting.
LET’S TALK
Tell us what you are
opening or improving.
Get in touch through the contact form or by email.
Contact form ↗ info@tokyodininggroup.com