JEREMY UMLAND

Founder | Co-CEO

Jeremy’s familiarity with Japanese cuisine began in 1979 when he attended Seinan Gakuin University as an exchange student and baseball player.  In 1983, he returned to the U.S. where he earned his MBA in International Finance at Thunderbird Graduate School in Arizona and then returned to Japan upon graduation to work for Morgan Stanley as an investment banker.   

In 1995, Jeremy returned to the States in New York where he began a career in real estate development while co-owning several restaurants in New York and London.  He relocated to San Francisco in 1998 and began to develop the Ozumo concept based on his experiences while in Japan and his passion for Japanese food, hospitality and design.  Driven by a commitment to quality and authenticity, Jeremy launched Ozumo inside Kimpton’s Harbor Court Hotel and created a one-of-a-kind restaurant experience that pays tribute to Japanese culture and to a new dining experience waiting to be discovered in the U.S.  Jeremy embarked on developing a new wine bar concept, Sonoma Wine Garden, which opened in Santa Monica in August 2010 and then followed by opening the 41 Ocean Club concept in 2013 and Ozumo Santana Row in May 2018.  Jeremy divides his time between San Francisco and Los Angeles, where he resides with his wife and two children.