Sushi Den Founder Debuts Omakase Concept Kizaki on South Pearl Street

It’s official: Japanese fine dining is having a moment in Denver. With SYC Omakase still to come, the city has welcomed several concepts in the past four months alone. These include Sushi by Scratch, which Westword named this year’s Best New Omakase; The Counter at Odell’s, which recently launched kaiseki-inspired dinners from a daytime bagel shop; and now Kizaki, one of this spring’s most anticipated restaurant openings.

Kizaki, which debuted today, April 11, comes from acclaimed chef Toshi Kizaki, who co-founded Sushi Den with his brother, Yasu Kizaki, in 1984. Since then, the brothers have added Izakaya Den and Ototo on a single stretch of South Pearl Street, also known as Den Corner.

Kizaki is a few doors down Pearl from these three inside Denchu,Toshi’s latest architectural marvel that echos the atmosphere of a greenhouse. The restaurant was collaboratively designed by Adam Harding and local architecture firm Roth Sheppard, alongside Tokyo-based Nemoto Masao.

You walk through a wood-lined hallway into Denchu, where natural light floods through floor-to-ceiling windows set adjacent to massive black limestone walls. Nestled inside Denchu is Kizaki, where diners will find a nine-seat omakase counter made from Siberian elm, plus two rooms behind the counter that seat six guests each. Burnt red cedar paneling, green tiling and and other organic materials were selected for the interior with Toshi’s Japanese roots in mind.
Similarly, the menu centers on tradition — specifically, edomae-style sushi. The techniques were popularized in Tokyo more than 200 years ago, and Toshi demonstrates several throughout the omakase menu, which includes approximately twenty courses. Expect raw, cured, seared and dry-aged sushi preparations that uphold the integrity of each ingredient.

Toshi was one of the first U.S.-based chefs to import fresh fish from Japan and has long partnered with the renowned Nagahama Fish Market in Kyushu. Rice at Kizaki is sourced from Japan’s famed Niigata Prefecture, a region known for producing some of the world’s finest rice varieties; the version here has a natural sweetness that Toshi augments with a variety of vinegars, a practice not often seen in contemporary sushi culture in this country. This method of crafting shari, or sushi rice, creates layers of complex flavors, subtle color variations and even textural differences.

Kizaki’s carefully paced menu also features yakimono dishes that involve cooking over direct heat — grilling, pan-frying and other classic techniques. Dessert is paired with a tea course, one of several beverage offerings.
Led by certified sake sommelier Yuki Minakawa, the beverage program includes other non-alcoholic options, curated wines, signature cocktails like a matcha martini and a rare collection of Japanese sakes and whiskies, several of which are exclusive to Kizaki.

At the end of every evening, Toshi plans to present each guest with a signed menu as a memento. “Kizaki is my vision of retirement," he says. "It’s my way of honoring edomae traditions and sharing these age-old techniques with Denver, the community that has embraced my creativity and shown me relentless support for decades. I want to finish where I started — making sushi.”

Kizaki at Denchu,1551 South Pearl Street. The omakase meal is offered at 5 and 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday at $225 per person; reservations are currently available on OpenTable.