STUDIO CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sushi Nozawa, the famed Los Angeles-based sushi restaurant, announces that it will close its doors after serving traditional sushi to its many dedicated fans for 25 years. Located at 11228 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City, the restaurant, with Chef Nozawa at the helm, will serve its final customers at the end of service on Wednesday, February 29, 2012.
Chef Nozawa, the only chef ever to serve guests behind the bar at Sushi Nozawa, will close Sushi Nozawa and turn his focus to his latest venture, SUGARFISH (www.sugarfishsushi.com). The existing Sushi Nozawa location in Studio City will be completely remodeled and opened as a SUGARFISH later in the spring, and will feature the “Trust Me” artwork given to Chef Nozawa over the years.
In a city whose culinary tradition is greatly defined by its obsession with sushi, the closing of Sushi Nozawa marks the end of an era. Trent Reznor, of the Nine Inch Nails and longtime Sushi Nozawa regular commented, “Sushi Nozawa is quite simply my very favorite place in the world to eat. Chef Nozawa is truly a great artist and has lifted the spirits of many an evening with the simplicity and perfection of what he serves. I will miss seeing Nozawa-san behind the bar.”
Chef Nozawa, one of Los Angeles’s sushi pioneers, is renowned for his consistently high Zagat ratings among all Los Angeles restaurants, as well as his strict rules for dining in his restaurant. “My dream has been to teach the American consumer the traditional ways of sushi. My many customers have learned to appreciate and love my style, which I know is very different than the ways they are accustomed to.” Chef Nozawa has also used his passion for teaching to train other sushi masters in Los Angeles, Aspen, Austin, Denver, San Diego and more.
“Sushi Nozawa has forever been my all time favorite place to eat. My personal record is 8 meals in one week, out of a possible 10,” said actor Jason Biggs. “It's hard to describe what a loss it is to not be able to sit at the end of the bar, eating the best sushi in the world opposite one of my favorite people in the world – Chef Nozawa.”
Ray Romano of Everybody Loves Raymond commented, “My first introduction to sushi in LA was a lunch at Nozawa with the Everybody Loves Raymond writers and it spoiled me from ever having sushi anywhere else. We went there for lunch once a week for the next nine years. I missed my show when it went off the air, but not quite as much as I missed those lunches. I have been going there ever since. It was perfect.”
Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal, added, “His motto was ‘Trust Me’ and after one bite of his fish 25 years ago, to me he became the Walter Cronkite of sushi. If it weren’t for Nozawa, we might all be eating nothing but California rolls and spicy tuna.”
SUGARFISH by sushi nozawa is operated by Sushi Nozawa, LLC, a California company based in Santa Monica. Sushi Nozawa in Studio City, owned and operated by Kazunori Nozawa, has earned the acclaim of Southern California diners and critics for more than two decades and is recognized for its premium quality and orthodox principles of edo-style sushi preparation by Master Sushi Chef Nozawa. Sushi Nozawa has consistently received top ratings in the annual Zagat surveys and has a fervently loyal fan base, founded on what the New York Times calls “the lure of the fish, the freshest from the world’s waters.” SUGARFISH by sushi nozawa with locations in Brentwood, Downtown Los Angeles, Marina del Rey and Santa Monica serve authentic, moderately-priced sushi of the highest quality; the restaurants have been rated as the best sushi restaurants in Los Angeles by CitySearch and numerous Los Angeles publications.
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