How We Started
Nami began with a simple frustration: most "Japanese-inspired" restaurants treat the sushi counter and the grill as two different kitchens with two different standards. We wanted one counter, one standard — where fish is cut to order and every skewer answers to the same binchotan coals. Four years and a lot of test batches later, that counter opened its doors on Harborview Street.
A four-seat sushi stall in a rented commissary kitchen, testing knife technique on borrowed fish.
Monthly twelve-seat omakase dinners under a different name, built entirely on word of mouth.
Harborview Street signed. Eleven months of construction around a custom-built binchotan hearth.
Doors open on Harborview Street, sushi counter and robata grill under one roof.
No pre-cut fish, no finishing oven. Every piece is cut to order, every skewer met binchotan on its way to your table.
The menu changes when the boats come in. A dish disappearing means something better just arrived.
No theatrics at the table. Just good food, unhurried pacing, and a room that lets conversation breathe.
Head of Kitchen
Counter & Knife Work
Sake & Bar Program