Daisuke Utagawa, co-owner of Washington’s oldest sushi
restaurant, Sushiko, has a new project in the works with Eighteenth Street
Lounge co-owner Yama Jewayni. Look for Daikaya (705 Sixth St., NW), a
two-level ramen restaurant and izakaya, to open in Penn Quarter
before the end of the year. Utagawa and Jewayni have teamed up with
Katsuya Fukushima—a José Andrés protégé who has cooked at Minibar, Café
Atlántico, and Jaleo—to oversee the kitchen, and the trio has traveled
extensively through Japan. The trip included a visit to the factory in
Sapporo that will supply noodles for the ramen—Utagawa says he toyed with
the idea of house-made pasta, but nothing could replicate what they tasted
in Sapporo, where the soup is traditionally made using a miso
broth.
Upstairs at the 90-seat izakaya, Fukushima hopes to
recreate the spirit of the snack bars he fell in love with in Japan, where
dishes run the gamut from sashimi and yakitori (grilled-meat skewers) to
simple vegetable preparations such as pickles, crudités, and fresh cabbage
served with a side of miso. Once both restaurants are up and running,
Utagawa and Fukushima will turn their attention to Kiji Club, a
Japanese-inspired cocktail bar slated for a nearby space at 600 F Street,
Northwest.
