Brother Toshi and Yasu Kizaki are at it again.
The owners of the Sushi Den empire, including Ototo and Izakaya Den, are adding a fourth Japanese restaurant to their South Pearl Street portfolio in Denver’s Platt Park neighborhood. Denchu, a working title, will be located at 1551 S. Pearl St., just down the block from Ototo, and is anticipated to open late summer or early fall this year.
“We are working on a new, chef-led, boutique Japanese restaurant concept featuring master chef/owner Toshi Kizaki,” Yasu said in a statement to The Denver Post. “Our new, smaller dining room location will be on our same street, South Pearl Street.”
The menu will showcase high-quality ingredients and traditional techniques found in upscale omakase experiences in Japan. “Omakase” is a Japanese term that translates to “I’ll entrust my meal to you,” where the chef is the curator of your meal. Guests will be able to watch Toshi’s creative process first-hand, while they enjoy the fresh-from-Japan seafood that Sushi Den and its sister concepts are known for. The restaurant is also sourcing Japanese chefs to join the team, according to Yasu. The concept is still in the early stages.
Toshi purchased the former Gaia Bistro property for $1.3 million in 2017, according to property records, and has been holding on to it ever since.
The brothers started Den Corner, as their block is sometimes called, in 1984 with the opening of Sushi Den. They added Izakaya Den, a Japanese gastro pub, in 2007 and followed three years later with Ototo, which serves up Japanese robata-style tapas. Temaki Den, known for its hand rolls and seared nigiri, was their first restaurant outside of Platt Park when they opened within RiNo’s The Source Market Hall in 2020.