In short
“Den Corner” in Denver—how brothers Toshi and Yasu Kazaki built Sushi Den and a fish supply chain from Kyushu to Colorado, earning a Michelin star; plus a separate conversation with chef-owner Maui McQueen about building Maui’s Kitchen in Aspen and cooking for private-jet clients.
Guests/backgrounds
Yasu Kazaki is a chef who moved from London to help run the family operation; Toshi Kazaki is the Michelin-starred sushi chef (opened Sushi Den in 1984, Denver). Maui McQueen is chef-owner of Maui’s Kitchen in Aspen, Afro-Mediterranean cuisine rooted in her African upbringing and Paris training.
Key claims
They fly fish to Denver in under 24 hours (often day and a half); Toshi’s “retirement project” (keeping the operation small and focused on sushi) won the first Japanese Michelin star in Denver; fish quality relies on hand-selecting and nightly calls to Japan.
Notable examples
opening a sushi bar beside the Japanese fish market to build trust; buying whole cases and splitting/processing to reduce weight/cost; Kazaki’s 21–22 course omakase with seasonal fish; Maui’s Kitchen serving jerk scallop, mafe, and jerk-style flavors, and catering to extremely specific private-jet owners.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOThe Kazaki Brothers and Sushi Den
0:25 to 1:08
Exploring the history and significance of Sushi Den and its founders.
“Brothers Toshi and Yasu Kazaki opened Sushi Den on Christmas Eve in 1984 in Denver, Colorado.”
Yasu and Toshi Kazaki Join the Show
1:08 to 2:00
Introduction of Yasu and Toshi Kazaki to discuss their culinary journey.
“the chef-owner of Maui's Kitchen in Aspen.”
Denver's Sushi Landscape
2:00 to 3:00
Discussion about the perception of Denver's sushi scene and its growth.
“And after I left, I told a lot of friends, I'm like, I had the most incredible meal in Denver.”
Yasu's Journey to Denver
3:00 to 4:00
Yasu recounts the pivotal moment that brought him to Denver.
“He had just started this restaurant they were sitting in today.”
Challenges of Sourcing Fish
4:00 to 5:00
Discussion on the difficulties of sourcing fish for restaurants in the Rockies.
“So it was a matter of you had to move here.”
Innovating Supply Chain for Sushi
5:00 to 8:00
How Toshi innovated the supply chain to get quality fish to Denver.
“He was a farmer, but ancestor was samurai.”
Hand-Selecting Quality Fish
8:00 to 10:00
The importance of relationships in sourcing the best fish at auctions.
“So Toshi was going back to meet these wholesalers often.”
Kazaki's Retirement Project
10:00 to 12:00
Toshi discusses his retirement project that led to a Michelin star.
“It's very, very smart to have that process.”
Pride in Achievements
12:00 to 14:00
Toshi expresses pride in being the oldest Japanese chef to receive a Michelin star.
“So from that phone call to your brother, he's at the market in the morning.”
Toshi Kizaki's Journey to a Michelin Star
14:00 to 19:02
Learn about Toshi Kizaki's culinary philosophy and the meaning of his retirement project.
“And you're the oldest chef in America, Japanese chef, to have a Michelin star.”
Show all 17 chapters
Reflections on Retirement in the Culinary World
19:02 to 19:59
Explore the perspectives on retirement from Toshi and Yasu, emphasizing passion in work.
“You know, I and Toshi are being asked all the time, but more like, let's see how far we can go.”
Maui McQueen: Culinary Adventures in Colorado
19:59 to 22:48
Discover Maui McQueen's favorite dining spots and culinary influences.
“I want to know, first off, where have you been dining out in Colorado recently?”
Creating a Culinary Hub at the Airport Business Center
22:48 to 28:01
Maui discusses her vision for transforming a unique location into a culinary destination.
“Especially my bougie people want to come.”
Vision for a Food Hub
28:01 to 29:56
Explore the vision of creating a food hub at the airport with diverse culinary offerings.
“And honestly, I'm going to tell you what.”
Crepe Therapy Expansion
29:56 to 30:29
Learn about the expansion of Crepe Therapy and its offerings inspired by Paris.
The Art of Crepes
30:29 to 31:49
Discover the passion for crepes and the plans to elevate their presence in the culinary scene.
“I am, I mean, it's just, you know, I love crepe.”
Invitation to New York
31:49 to 32:15
An invitation for further conversation and collaboration in New York.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Toshi Kizaki:It's almost like a retired already. I'm not doing things, Toshi is not doing things he doesn't like. We are doing things that we like. So it's fun.
0:12Yasu Kizaki:This is Taste, on the road in Colorado, presented by Visit Colorado.
0:25Yasu Kizaki:Brothers Toshi and Yasu Kazaki opened Sushi Den on Christmas Eve in 1984 in Denver, Colorado. Little did they know how the opening would impact Japanese food in America forever. Over the next four decades, they built a supply chain that flies fish from a market in Kyushu to Denver in under 24 hours. They took over a corner of Platt Park with a cluster of Japanese restaurants and earned a Michelin star in the process. At 69, Toshi was the oldest sushi chef in the United States to receive his first. This is the story of Den Corner, including the Michelin-starred Kazaki and a rare sit-down with the founding brothers.
1:07Yasu Kizaki:Also on the show, I have a great conversation with Maui McQueen, the chef-owner of Maui's Kitchen in Aspen. We talk about building her mini empire and what it's really like to cook for the private jet crowd. I hope you enjoy this episode.
1:27Yasu Kizaki:Yasu and Toshi Kazaki, welcome to This Is Taste. What an honor to speak with both of you. How are you today? Fine, thank you. I appreciate it. So Yasu is going to do most of the interview. Toshi is the chef here. Yasu, you said that you're, what is your role? I'm a chef too. I know you're a chef, but you said... But Toshi is a Michelin chef. I'm just a regular chef. You're just a regular chef. Yeah. Well, okay. Well, fair enough. Toshi will come in for a little color commentary at times. But for all intents and purposes, it's a conversation with Yasu. So really an honor to be here in Denver. I was able to dine here about 13 years ago.
2:03Yasu Kizaki:And after I left, I told a lot of friends, I'm like, I had the most incredible meal in Denver. And it was a Japanese restaurant. And many people came to me and said, what? Denver has great Japanese food. How long have you been answering that question about how does Denver have the best fish in the country, in America?
2:21Toshi Kizaki:Forever, but today you are the first one.
2:23Yasu Kizaki:Today is the first time of forever. I mean, what is your answer? My answer is just a lot of hard work.
2:34Toshi Kizaki:And I think the timing was important. and all the trains start from east and west coast and comes to the middle. It takes a little long, but the timing was right.
2:48Yasu Kizaki:Yasu, tell me about the call that you received from your father to fly. You were living in London and to check out your brother's sushi restaurant and check in on your brother. He had just started this restaurant they were sitting in today. What was that phone call like from your dad?
3:05Toshi Kizaki:Well, it wasn't a phone call. It was an airmail that came to me from my father. And it was a blue-red stripe envelope. And when I opened it, he basically said, your younger brother Toshi is going to open a sushi bar somewhere in the United States. So when I was reading it, it says Colorado. And I started asking American friends, where is Colorado? And they said, oh, it's in the mountain. And I thought, wow, that's crazy. Why do you open the Sushiwa in the mountainous area? I was shocked.
3:47Yasu Kizaki:And what was your dad's request? Well, he told me, you know, I'm the oldest one in the family.
3:56Toshi Kizaki:So I have always been told by my father to take care of younger ones. So our ancestors are samurai. So I had to say yes to my father. So I said yes.
4:12Yasu Kizaki:So it was a matter of you had to move here.
4:16Toshi Kizaki:Yeah, but the duty and obligation.
4:19Yasu Kizaki:Yeah. When you arrived in Denver for the first time, what was that like? What was going through your head when you land here and you realize your brother is maybe going to open a restaurant, maybe going to make a mistake? No, I mean, I thought, wow, it's in a mountain.
4:38Toshi Kizaki:So how do we get the fish? Right?
4:42Yasu Kizaki:Yeah.
4:42Toshi Kizaki:That was number one question. And what I was excited for Toshi, that was his dream. I don't think he even knew it was his dream. I just came to him and our father was very supportive of us. He was a farmer, but ancestor was samurai. And he was always encouraging us to do our thing.
5:12Yasu Kizaki:So do your thing. Yeah. That's really interesting. He wanted his sons, your father, to do their thing. And that included moving to Colorado? Yeah, but you know, what is the expression?
5:25Toshi Kizaki:Being young and stupid? You know, when you are young?
5:29Yasu Kizaki:Yeah, yeah.
5:30Toshi Kizaki:Of course, everything is a good idea. So I thought, oh, it's a good idea.
5:35Yasu Kizaki:Let's go back to that idea of getting fish to the Rockies. Getting those fish over the mountains, so to speak. In 1984, there's a very small amount of cold chain coming to America on planes from Japan. Yeah. You were able to innovate this and get them into Denver, of all places. and you had somebody in Japan selecting fish for you in 1984. Talk about that.
5:57Toshi Kizaki:Well, it's Toshi's idea, of course. He always wanted to serve best fish, right? So where is the best fish? In Japan. So he used to work in Los Angeles, so he knew he could get hold of good fish. But he wanted to use Japanese fish. and so Toshi convinced our youngest brother to join our operation. So he's the one who started going to a fish market in Japan. But there is more story than that. You know, he had to quit his job and join our operation. And Toshi, in a way, he was crazy, But I decided to open a sushi bar right beside the fish market in Japan in order to get fish. You know, in Japan, it's word of mouth and the people has to trust you.
7:08Yasu Kizaki:So having a sushi bar right beside the fish market is convincing. To this day, your brother is still part of this operation. Yeah. And he is hand selecting the fish. Now, let's just assume our audience doesn't know what hand-selecting fish is like. What does that mean to hand-select fish from Japan?
7:29Toshi Kizaki:There are a lot of sushi birds like us going to a fish market. There is a wholesaler, and they auction the fish. Then they take it to their own shop in the market. Then all the sushi birds go there to buy the fish. So when you don't have a relationship with a wholesaler, you know, you don't always get a good fish, right? So you have to pay. So Toshi was going back to meet these wholesalers often. Even our brother was there. But it's a relationship building period.
8:14Yasu Kizaki:Absolutely. To get the best fish at the auction, you have to have a connection. So I'll just say to Toshi, you were just in Japan. Were you buying fish? Were you checking in with your relationships there? In the fish market, they are very stubborn. And that time I was new to them.
8:39Toshi Kizaki:So I go often to introduce myself. Sometimes I brought cookies or whatever. Gifts. Bottle of wine he took. Bottle of wine. Yeah. Nice. So I did it. And you know, usually the system is different. They don't sell like one pound or two pound. So we have to buy a whole case of the fish. So, of course, in Denver, I couldn't use, you know, whole, you know, case of fish. Yeah. So, that's why I opened the sushi den branch by the fish market.
9:24Yasu Kizaki:At the market.
9:25Toshi Kizaki:Yes. Then we cleaned the fish. I split it first. Then Japan sushi den and the Denver sushi den, we split. then the Denver Sushi Den one is cooling well, take the guts, cut the heads off. Otherwise, its weight is very heavy. Yeah. It's going to be very expensive. That's why cutting the cost. Then we start bringing fish to Denver.
9:55Yasu Kizaki:Yeah. Amazing. So you opened Sushi Den Japan, not just to ingratiate yourself with the fish sellers, but to actually have a place to clean and a place to process and then once you're processed the fish it ends up at the airport at Narita to come to Denver
10:13Toshi Kizaki:usually we use Korea Kyushu to Korea is very close it's more convenience you send it to Korea Korea to Los Angeles oh I see that's the
10:30Yasu Kizaki:I think cost is less than direct flight from Japan. It's very, very smart to have that process. And is this the new, is this been the way you've done it since 1984?
10:47Toshi Kizaki:Not 84. A little bit after, maybe three, four years later, maybe. But in the meantime, I've been buying fish from Los Angeles. Got it. I was not satisfied, you know, we can get. For example, you know, here to Los Angeles, it's, you know, I can go buy fish every day, right? So we have to trust fish market. So what they do is they have to sell, you know.
11:18Yasu Kizaki:Whole case, good fish and bad fish in one case, right? I want to ask you about that. From afar, when you're not in Japan. Yeah. How do you grade the fish from afar? How do you speak with your brother? How does that work exactly? Because, you know, you come to Sushi Den and your other restaurants because of the quality of the fish. It's very important.
11:39Toshi Kizaki:I talk to my brother every night. So, you know, Japan time is a big difference. Yeah.
11:50Toshi Kizaki:So, their time, early in the morning, I call my brother. then what do you what do you have there then he tell me this this this this then I told my brother so okay get it this one get this one and now my brother is getting you know he learned what you like as a chef he knows your preferences then he can start buying without me.
12:28Yasu Kizaki:So from that phone call to your brother, he's at the market in the morning. It's night here. When does that fish arrive in Denver? How long does that take?
12:36Toshi Kizaki:Day and a half, maybe.
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12:37Yasu Kizaki:Day and a half. That's amazing. Latest is two days later. Wow. So it's here. And so this is rare. This is this way of hand selecting and having that daily. That is a lot of work.
12:50Toshi Kizaki:Always, you know, hand selecting. is, you know, fish market get fish, you know, like a lot of fish, tons of fish. So there are good ones and fat ones, skinny ones. So we always like, you know, fat ones. So more fat means more oil. So that's why I have to select. Yeah.
13:17Yasu Kizaki:So a lot of it's just the trust of your brother. Yes. that he understands your preferences. I want to stick here with Toshi. You open Kazaki and you call it your retirement project. Yes. And immediately you get a Michelin star. Yes. For your retirement project. What was that like for you to have that happen?
13:36Toshi Kizaki:Okay, for me, there is no star in Denver as a Japanese restaurant. Another restaurant, I don't know how many stars, I don't remember. But this is the first Japanese restaurant star in Denver.
13:57Yasu Kizaki:Yes. So that's what I'm very proud of. You're very proud. And you're the oldest chef in America, Japanese chef, to have a Michelin star.
14:05Toshi Kizaki:I know, you know, a couple of people. They are older than me. Okay. But they took, they got the Michelin star when they were younger. Younger. Yeah, yeah. But my age is, maybe I'm the, I don't know, maybe.
14:19Yasu Kizaki:You're the most wise, is what I'm going to say. I'll say you're the most wise. And it's incredible. And I brought up age only because, you know, Denver just received their Michelin guide. So it's not like it was like a long time. I mean, it was a long time coming, but it was part of the, just the way it lined up, you know, with the Michelin coming here. But you called it a retirement project. What did you mean by that?
14:42Toshi Kizaki:When I started Sushi Den, I didn't think about not too much business. But restaurants grow. Then I realize, oh, this is a business. Then, you know, business, some part, I like it. Some part, I'm not very good at, I don't have maybe business mind or something. So anyway, kind of my age, a lot of people, my friends, it's already retired. On the golf course, truly, playing golf. Retired. Yeah. So he didn't want to have any constraint. You know, like a Sushi Den Izakaya Ototo. We have so many employees. But he wanted to do his own thing, which is to make sushi. So he made it small. He just wanted to focus on what he enjoys.
15:37Toshi Kizaki:You know, rather than managing employees or things like that. He just wanted to focus on making sushi.
15:43Yasu Kizaki:How does that play out at Kizaki? How does that idea of it's just going to be me and the fish and I'm not going to manage, I'm not going to deal with the BS. What does that look like?
15:54Toshi Kizaki:Because he has trusted chefs. He has a very close relationship with three other chefs. And it's like he's a soldier in a way. So whatever he says, they try to accommodate what he wants to do. So he has a good team. And he doesn't spend a lot of time managing the servers. We have managers doing it.
16:21Yasu Kizaki:What about the menu? Let's maybe hand it back over to Toshi. And Toshi, for our listeners who haven't been able to book a table at Kazaki, what is a meal, what is an omakase, what does an experience look like there?
16:39Toshi Kizaki:You know, we have 21 or 22 courses. Then half of them are something cooked. So I have a chef for that. So another half is we make sushi with seasonal fish. And it's always seasonal. So different season, we change the fish. So we make very simple rice and rice mean the sushi rice and fish and the fresh wasabi and nikiri soy sauce. Four things. Basically, that's all we use.
17:27Yasu Kizaki:Yeah.
17:27Toshi Kizaki:We add a little bit, but basically those.
17:30Yasu Kizaki:Yasu, tell me about establishing Den Corner with Sushi Den, Izakaya Den, Ototo, and Kazaki. all of these restaurants are on this block in denver i mean this is amazing it's a residential neighborhood and you've been able to open these four restaurants you know we walked in and there was a line of 50 people uh waiting to get into sushi den and at the other restaurants it's impressive what's what was that what was that like to establish this you know it's a fast you
17:55Toshi Kizaki:have to cook provide good fish good food and uh people started coming and they have to wait So Toshi decided to, we decided to open one more place. We made that place busy. And a different purpose. For example, like Izakaya, people go there for the date, date night. Sushiden, they come here for the good sushi. Otooto is a neighborhood hangout. Kizaki is a place when the customer likes to impress their guest. So they are using four places in a different purpose.
18:32Yasu Kizaki:Yeah. How do you book Ikazaki? Is it difficult? Difficult, yes. How do we do it?
18:40Toshi Kizaki:We know each other now. You and I? Okay, I can book there. Yeah. No, I mean, you can order online, but it fills up pretty fast, one month in advance.
18:50Yasu Kizaki:One month in advance, so you're on the platform and... And in the middle of the month, we open the date. I see. Always middle of the month. Yeah. 15th. I think many of our listeners would be interested in checking that out. Yeah. I'm going to close and ask both of you about retirement. Yasu, do you have a retirement project?
19:08Toshi Kizaki:You know, I and Toshi are being asked all the time, but more like, let's see how far we can go. Right?
19:17Yasu Kizaki:Yeah.
19:18Toshi Kizaki:And, you know, when you enjoy your work, it's almost like a retired already. I'm not doing things, Toshi is not doing things he doesn't like. We are doing things that we like. So it's fun.
19:32Yasu Kizaki:So Toshi, are you officially retired? You won a Michelin star for your retirement project. So is this considered you retired? I was planning retiring, but I got a star.
19:42Toshi Kizaki:So I have to push a little more. A little bit, wow. Yeah. Another one mile.
19:47Yasu Kizaki:Then I'm pretty much done. I hope that you are both cooking for years to come. It's a real honor to speak with you on This Is Taste. really is an honor to be back at your restaurant 13 years later. Thank you so much.
20:06Yasu Kizaki:Maui McQueen, welcome to This is Taste. How are you?
20:09Toshi Kizaki:Fantastic. How are you?
20:10Yasu Kizaki:Great to speak with you. I want to know, first off, where have you been dining out in Colorado recently?
20:16Toshi Kizaki:Oh, my God. Okay. There's a restaurant that I am totally, like, Domescaria Alma. Okay. because it's so good. The food is so fantastic. It's amazing. Of course, I eat a lot at Mercantile, Tarvinata. I love to support local businesses and people who do things extraordinary. Food, food, food, food, food. All about the ingredients.
20:51Yasu Kizaki:Absolutely. So tell me about the Mezcaleria. Is that from Johnny Carell? Yes!
20:57Toshi Kizaki:He's great, right? It's delicious. You make the best sweet potato. You know?
21:05Yasu Kizaki:Oh, Mawa, I'm very familiar with that sweet potato. That is an amazing dish.
21:10Toshi Kizaki:Oh, my God. Yeah. I mean, it's one of his signature dish. It's just delicious. And I like the small plates. It's amazing. Yeah. And you know where I dine also that I love, but it's not for every day. Wolf Taylor. It was my splurge.
21:34Yasu Kizaki:That's great. It's a great restaurant. We didn't catch up with Kelly Whitaker recently during these interviews, but I got to get him on the show. Such a good restaurant. Alright, so your flagship, which Clayton and I visited, is in an airport business center. It's such an interesting location. I want to know walking through finding that unique space for your restaurant. uh first of all you know what i i find a place because i was desperate first of all
22:03Toshi Kizaki:i couldn't you know uh aspen is extremely expensive so honestly i couldn't afford it you know that's it i couldn't afford anything in downtown so i was looking for a kitchen space and I found it at the ABC. And it took us years for people to come see us. Yeah. It was a long stretch.
22:32Yasu Kizaki:Yeah. Yeah. It's cool. Parking was cool. Like, it was like, where are we going? Where are we going? And then I'm like, oh. Then we walk in and we're in such a cool space.
22:43Toshi Kizaki:Yes. And like, when you look at from outside, you're like, what? What did I get myself into? Especially my bougie people want to come. They're like, I can't find you.
22:53Yasu Kizaki:That's fun. I love it. And you're so smart to go there because obviously you've got a great deal to start. And started building your culinary repertoire. Explain to our audience a little bit. Describe your culinary POV. What's a night like at Maui's Kitchen?
23:11Toshi Kizaki:A night like at Maui's Kitchen. Well, it's a busy night. When people come in, first of all, you're going to see me because I'm always there. In fact, when I'm not traveling for food and wine events, you get seated. The cuisine is Afro-Mediterranean. Afro-Mediterranean because I'm African. I was raised in Paris and I went to culinary school in Paris. and then Mediterranean because I love Mediterranean food and I love, you know, simple ingredient. I am not the foam person. You're going to have a very fresh, good meal with some flavor. You know, I call myself the flavor town in Aspen because, you know, everybody's doing, you know, pasta and steak and caviar And I'm like, no, you're going to have chicken yasai, you're going to have jerk scallop.
24:21Toshi Kizaki:You are going to have a mafe, West Africa, a gumbo with fufu. So really, I wanted to bring a lot more culture to Aspen because people think that there's no culture in Aspen. It's not people, actually, I think that. Because kids grow up here thinking, It's steak and sushi.
24:45Yasu Kizaki:Yeah, I know.
24:46Toshi Kizaki:And I'm like, no, because we don't have a lot of mom and pop restaurants like the big city. And that's exactly what I'm trying to create at the ABC. I wanted more culture, more flavor, more exotic to add to the extended community of restaurant that we already have.
25:12Yasu Kizaki:Yeah.
25:12Toshi Kizaki:So I wanted, you know, and I look at myself and I'm like, wow, wow. Whoa. Okay. Look at who you are and how can I be authentic to myself? You know? So that's what I do.
25:24Yasu Kizaki:I think that's a really great way to look at it. And you're right across from the airport. And I have to ask, like you, you have catering clients and many have private jets. Like what's, what's cooking for a private jet client actually like?
25:40Toshi Kizaki:Oh my God. So cooking for private clients, it's, first of all, I'm going to say it's one of the most difficult things as a chef you'll ever do.
25:54Toshi Kizaki:It's very rewarding, but difficult in the sense that you'll have a menu, but it's almost like it's for sure. Nobody, none of my wealthy clients go by the menu. They order what they want to order. because I don't cater. I cater only for people who actually own the plant. I don't do charter.
26:15Yasu Kizaki:Oh, yeah.
26:15Toshi Kizaki:So when you come to me, this is the people who have the private chef. They think I'm a private chef. So they're like, Mawa, I want a Caesar salad with no lettuce, with this five gram of protein and six tomato. It needs to be cherry tomato. But I don't want the yellow one. I want only the right one. You know what I mean? Extremely, extremely picky. They know what they want. They're business savvy. I can't try what people think. They don't want caviar. They want something that fuels their body. It's more like they want it healthy.
26:54Yasu Kizaki:Yeah.
26:55Toshi Kizaki:Good ingredient. You know, I spend my time counting calorie than cooking. When I have a breakfast. Yes.
27:05Yasu Kizaki:we've talked to chefs who are private and it seems like macros is truly like you should get a Michelin star for macros like yeah yeah
27:14Toshi Kizaki:seriously it's so funny because I'm like okay but I love it I love it you know I got used to it because I you know I used to do private homes so I love it and it's very rewarding and they're very picky about what they eat and that go well with me Yeah.
27:34Yasu Kizaki:I mean, it seems like a little bit of succession energy happening here with. Yeah. I love your like there's no like no rentals. They have to own the plane like, you know.
27:45Toshi Kizaki:Yes. No. Oh, hell no. You can't afford me if you rent it.
27:49Yasu Kizaki:There you go. So your scale, your fee is is proportional to the ownership of the jet and maybe the equity that the jet has.
27:59Toshi Kizaki:You understand it. Because, you know, they want malware. And honestly, I'm going to tell you what. When I'm not here, there's no private jets. Unless they want some, you know, some generic things. Okay? I'm the only one who does it. My husband and I, and I have another chef. But nobody else can do it. You know? You have a reputation. Exactly. For detail.
28:27Yasu Kizaki:Yeah. Detail. Detail-oriented. You've mentioned, I believe, that you want to turn the airport business center into a food hub and bring in other chefs and other voices or open up other. Like, I bet we've been there. And I see your vision because I think you could have so many cool little spots in the different retail outposts.
28:47Toshi Kizaki:But you know what? Honestly, that's always been my dream. Okay. I really want the ABC to become the hub. Okay. Because this is where normal people live. This is where you want to go to your little Asian restaurant, your Thai, that mom and pap created that we can afford actually to run. But the rent is not$20 ,000 a month. And it's been my dream. Because that's why Aspen is so expensive. When you go to Aspen, you're not paying for the food, you're paying for the realtor, the real estate. it's not a chef want to gouge you over there no it's because the rent is so expensive if they don't do that they're not going to survive and I want something that based on the food on what you want to do on really the talent people who want to share the culture do you know what I mean?
29:51Toshi Kizaki:you go to Harlem and you have so many different pockets and I want to create that same thing here so that's the reason why i actually um left snowmass and i brought uh marita here to add it to it you know what i mean absolutely and and i think your expansion is very
30:10Yasu Kizaki:interesting tell me about crepe therapy love that love that name in boulder and you're opening more
30:16Toshi Kizaki:locations i hear yes okay crepe therapy limelight see you limelight yes we're gonna be open actually on the 30th this month. I'm super excited.
30:29Yasu Kizaki:Love that. I am, I mean, it's just, you know, I love crepe. Yeah.
30:36Toshi Kizaki:As a French person, I cater to that French side. You know, Maui cater to the African Mediterranean side, but crepe is... All about Paris. Yes, all about Paris. This is what I grew up with. And I said to myself, how come there's no chain of crepes, restaurants? Yeah. Okay. There's none. And you know what? If you give me, I think people are tired of burger and burrito. You know? We need to introduce new things to this young kid.
31:12Yasu Kizaki:Oh, I mean, I...
31:13Toshi Kizaki:We want to make it upper, you know? Make it a little bit more bougie.
31:17Yasu Kizaki:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think we think of maybe like sweet crepes. But when I think of crepe and I think of like the Rue de Saint-Germain or somewhere in Paris, I'm like, give me ham and Gruyere.
31:30Toshi Kizaki:That's exactly what we have.
31:32Yasu Kizaki:Yo, that's the best. I love that combo. Yes.
31:35Toshi Kizaki:Yes. And, you know, we have the galette, the buckwheat. Yeah. Of course, the classic Nutella. But really, I mastered the art of crepe. like I'm a crepe queen literally
31:50Yasu Kizaki:I'm a queen the crepe queen love how that sounds I love how that sounds listen I would love to have you in the studio in New York will you come visit and we can do another conversation
32:03Toshi Kizaki:absolutely do you know I always go there I always there at least every three months
32:08Yasu Kizaki:I'm in there let's hang out I have much more to ask but we'll leave it at this thank you so much for joining this is taste thank you
32:21Yasu Kizaki:This is Taste is hosted and produced by Eliza Abarbanal and me, Matt Rodbar. The show is edited by lead producer Clayton Gumbert and supervised by Pat Stango, director of media production and development at Penguin Random House. Thanks to Shalia Harris and the production team at Penguin Random House. Theme music by Steve Rydell. Episode portraits by Louise Zergon Pomeroy. Logo design by Ellie Skirzat and Ian Dingham. Visit Taste Online at tastegood.com.
From the publisher
Toshi and Yasu Kizaki opened Sushi Den on Christmas Eve in 1984 on South Pearl Street in Denver. Little did they know how the opening would impact Japanese food in America. Over the next four decades, they built a supply chain that flies fish from a market in Kyushu to Denver in under 24 hours, took over a corner of Platt Park with a cluster of Japanese restaurants, and earned a Michelin star — at 69, the oldest sushi chef in the U.S. to receive his first. This is the story of Sushi Den's expansion, including the Michelin-starred Kizaki, and a rare sit-down with the founding brothers.
Also on the show we have a great conversation with Mawa McQueen, the chef-owner of Mawa’s Kitchen in Aspen. This Michelin Guide–recommended restaurant is the flagship eatery of owner and executive chef Mawa McQueen, a 2022 James Beard Award semifinalist and recipient of the 2022 Colorado Governor's Minority Business Award. The menu at Mawa's Kitchen is hyper-seasonal and reflects Mawa's international heritage, serving Afro-Mediterranean cuisine with a French-American flair. We talk about building her mini empire, and what it’s like to cook for the private jet crowd.
Thank you to Visit Colorado for supporting this episode.
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