If you’ve ever tried to make sushi at home, you know how hard it can be to find sushi-grade fish around DC, let alone anything of the quality you’d find at top restaurants. But a new seafood business is now supplying home cooks with premium cuts of bluefin tuna, yellowtail, and Hokkaido uni, all fresh—never frozen—directly from Japan.
Keita Miyaki previously worked in finance and data science for the World Bank Group and the public-health arm of the United Nations in Geneva. But his real passion was always food. While living in Switzerland, he traveled nearly every weekend to eat across Italy and France, writing mini restaurant reviews for friends and opening more than 500 bottles of wine over two years.
Miyaki, who is originally from the Kobe-Osaka area, eventually got bored of his job in Switzerland and returned to Washington with the idea of starting his own business. He connected with a friend working for a fish wholesaler in Kyushu, Japan, that was open to expanding in the US. “I knew that DC was lacking a good seafood supply,” Miyaki says. But he’d seen the popularity of Wegmans Seafood and Sushi Festival, offering fresh fish from Japan. “I knew there was a huge demand.”
So Miyaki taught himself about FDA and import regulations and launched Keita Seafood last September. All his fish is farm-raised, which is less prone to parasites than wild-caught, so it doesn’t need to be frozen. The fish is processed and shipped within days of being caught and arrives at Dulles Airport every Wednesday, where it clears customs before Miyaki sells it between Friday and Sunday. (Pick it up from a warehouse in Ivy City or order delivery at keita-seafood.com. The fish is also available at Hana Japanese Market on U Street.)
Keita sells vacuum-sealed filets of bluefin tuna, sea bream, great amberjack, yellowtail, and other occasional specialties. You can also get pre-sliced sashimi, including an excellent tuna omakase option ($90 for two), along with other cuts such as yellowtail collars and tuna cheeks. Because he buys directly from the wholesaler, he’s able to offer the fish at a relatively affordable price. While most of his clientele are home cooks, Miyaki also sells to the Japanese ambassador’s chef and restaurants such as Korean hot spot Anju.
“For me, it’s always about flavor and if I can get a consistent product,” says Anju chef Angel Barreto, who’s using Miyaki’s fresh tuna for a spicy cold noodle dish this summer. “It’s very fresh. It’s kind of unbeatable for what we do.”
This article appears in the August 2024 issue of Washingtonian.
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.
