Food

Sushi Ogawa Team Will Open High-End Omakase Counter in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel

It will have just four to eight seats.

Tuna nigiri at Sushi Ogawa. Photograph by Scott Suchman

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Before opening Sushi Capitol, Sushi Ogawa, and most recently Mirai in Shaw, Minoru Ogawa oversaw sushi operations for the Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel group. Now, the chef, along with his son-in-law/business partner Can Yurdagul, is planning a homecoming of sorts. Their next restaurant will be a very intimate omakase counter in Southwest DC’s Mandarin Oriental.

The four- to eight-seat spot will be the team’s most high-end place yet. It’s also the one where you’ll be most likely to find Ogawa himself behind the counter. The yet-unnamed restaurant will offer an omakase experience for dinner only when it opens later this year. In the future, the restaurant may also serve an a la carte menu for lunch.

Located in an area off the lobby not previous used for restaurants, the space will have a “clean and minimalistic” look with a “very nice counter” and comfortable seats, Yurdagul says.

Meanwhile, the team has just opened a sushi spot called Mirai in Shaw, which serves a 30-minute omakase meal. It’s only open Sundays to start, because the owners have had a hard time securing a full-time sushi chef. (For now, it’s borrowing some talent from Sushi Ogawa, which is closed on Sundays.) “With the opening of so many sushi restaurants, it’s a scarcity to find good chefs in the city,” Yurdagul says.

Yurdagul hopes to lock down a hire in the next several weeks, at which time Mirai will expand its hours and offer reservations. A daytime market serving prepared food and other goods from local purveyors should be opening in about two weeks.

Jessica Sidman
Food Editor

Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.