For $200 a head, D.C. sushi master Minoru Ogawa will feed you 23 courses at his new Old City restaurant
Chef Ogawa says he sources most of his fish from Toyosu Market in his hometown of Tokyo.
Minoru Ogawa, a second-generation sushi chef whose family has operated a restaurant in Tokyo for 50 years, is a fairly big name in the Washington restaurant circuit. He owns Sushi Ogawa and earlier this year opened Kappo, a Michelin-recommended restaurant focused on wagyu-beef tastings.
How on earth is Ogawa also overseeing Ogawa Sushi & Kappo, a new, high-end sushi restaurant on Market Street in Old City that serves 23-course omakase meals for $200 a head, plus tax and tip?
You have to ask Vy To, a Philadelphia financial adviser, and her husband, Victor Ng, a health-care professional.
“I always said that when I retire, I will open a little coffee shop,” To said. “That was my dream job, until we met our neighbors who have been in the restaurant industry all their lives.”
The neighbors are Angelina “Ling” Yang and her husband, Albert Zheng, whose holdings include Engimono Sushi in Fairmount and Kabuki near City Hall. They also owned 310 Market St., two doors from Fork, where the restaurant at the time, a sushi shop called Ikki, was underperforming.
“They came over for dinner and they told us, ‘I wish we could do something about that space,’ ” To said. “I said, ‘Well, let’s do it together.’ They thought I was joking but I was just half-joking. I know that I would not be able to be in the industry without someone who has the experience.”
Zheng and Yang’s friend in Washington knew Ogawa, “and they said we should go and check it out and see how they do it.” Dinner at Ogawa convinced them that this was the right idea for Philadelphia, which is in the middle of an omakase boom.
(Patrons put themselves in the chef’s hands for these multicourse meals, whose courses reflect the freshest available fish. Prices vary for omakases, from $95 for a hurry-up meal at Kichi to $300, including tip, at Jesse Ito’s Royal Sushi.)
Soon after the meeting, Ogawa signed on, installing three chefs from Washington to rotate sushi duties at the 12-seat counter, where seatings, which can be booked on Resy, start at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
Ogawa specializes in edomae (edo-style) sushi, or fish sourced from Toyosu Market in Tokyo.
A preview dinner Thursday started with Ogawa showing off his tray of seafood to those at the counter. The omakase debuted with a single Kumamoto oyster and segued into white fish tataki and octopus.
Then came five pieces of nigiri before two hot appetizers: steamed egg chawanmushi (a luscious cup of egg with wagyu, foie gras, cauliflower, and white truffle oil) and grilled black cod with spinach and Japanese pumpkin.
Next came five more nigiri pieces, including uni sourced from both Maine and Japan, followed by a handroll and tamagoyaki, plus a cup of miso soup, five additional nigiri, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Sake, beer, and Japanese whiskey are available, as well as sake pairings.
The experience is set to a new-age soundtrack amid one of the quietest kitchen experiences imaginable. Ogawa-san and his sidekicks worked nearly silently, except for an occasional blast from a blowtorch.
Cait Borkowski, who also designed the interiors of Philadelphia’s Gilda and Paffuto, set for a light wood bar offset by darker wood paneling on the walls and brass lighting.
The next phase will be the addition of kappo menu selections, and in the spring, a 30-seat upstairs dining room, featuring a bar with a full liquor license, is expected to open.