Hajime Sato took home the medal in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category in 2024 for his work at Sozai in Clawson, Michigan. | Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago Beaverton diners, you win this round. Hajime Sato, a James Beard Award-winning sushi chef, has quietly opened a new omakase destination, Sazanami, off SW Nimbus Avenue. Sato’s entrance into the Oregon dining seem comes at a big moment for sushi in the Portland area. Just last month, Ryan Roadhouse of Nodoguro took home a James Beard Award for his kaiseki-inspired tasting menus. And in short order, Nimblefish’s Cody Auger is set to open a small omakase counter in downtown Portland.  “Don’t expect a parade of nigiri.” Though new to Oregon, Sato is, by any measure, one of the most interesting sushi chefs in America, and his path to Beaverton has been a circuitous one. He grew up in Utsunomiya in Japan, spent a year as an exchange student in Idaho, and eventually landed in the Pacific Northwest, where in 1994 he opened Mashiko in West Seattle.  In 2009, he made Mashiko one of the first sushi restaurants in the country to commit entirely to serving sustainable seafood, opting out of using some of the most requested and expected fish on sushi menus, including Atlantic salmon, freshwater eel, and bluefin tuna. This commitment wound up being a defining characteristic of his approach to the cuisine and has helped make Mashiko a perennial addition to Seattle’s best sushi spots.  Then, in 2019, Sato’s wife was diagnosed with cancer. He sold Mashiko to three longtime employees, and relocated to her home state of Michigan while she underwent treatment. In 2021, during the second summer of the pandemic, Sato opened Sozai, a tiny 13-seat omakase counter, in the Detroit suburb of Clawson, Michigan. He persisted in his commitment to sustainable seafood and garnered attention for sourcing some fish from the Midwest, not relying exclusively on that air-shipped from elsewhere. That fall, Sozai earned an Eater Award for Best New Suburban Restaurant, and the following February, the Detroit Free Press named Sozai its 2022 Restaurant of the Year. Sozai also landed on Bon Appétit‘s 50 Best New Restaurants list. In 2024, Sato won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes, beating out Chicago’s heavy hitters for the first-ever win for a sushi chef in that category.  Last spring, less than a year after his win, Sato closed Sozai, sharing a plan to return to the Pacific Northwest. For a while, nobody, including former Seattle regulars, knew exactly where he’d land.  Why not return to Seattle? In part because his first restaurant, Mashiko, remains in business.  “I sold [Mashiko] to my employees and they’re still going in Seattle so I don’t want to compete with them,” Sato says, laughing.“That’d be kind of rude, right?” Sato chose Beaverton in part because he has friends here, but says the city’s down-to-earth vibe reminded him of West Seattle. They’ve got a place with a yard for their three rescue dogs, and having Uwajimaya nearby is certainly a perk. “Most of the restaurants these days, they say it’s omakase, but it’s just a coursed meal — they’re not going to change anything — it’s a set menu, more like a tasting menu.” Sato’s new restaurant, Sazanami, is in a shopping center, sandwiched between an HR Block and a yarn shop. Structurally, it’s a lot like Sozai was: a 14-seat counter (no tables), built around omakase. But, Sato says, “don’t expect a parade of nigiri.” “If you go to Japan,” Sato says, “there’s a lot of small restaurants that employ maybe two or three people and it’s counter space only, and the chef talks to you and makes a meal for you.” The 9-course chef’s choice menu will include sushi, sashimi, and cooked dishes. Diners can select between two pescatarian menus — Minato for $170, or Chiso, which includes “more adventurous” choices for $200. There’s also a vegan menu option for $140.  “Most of the restaurants these days, they say it’s omakase, but it’s just a coursed meal — they’re not going to change anything — it’s a set menu, more like a tasting menu. To me, [Sazanami] is Kappo-style, basically at the counter, talk to the customers, and see how it goes. Of course, we’re not going to have spicy mayonnaise or California roll.”  The sustainability ethos that has defined Sato’s career is very much intact. “There’s so much great stuff that you can do around here.” Sato has connected with Oregon suppliers for local sea urchin, petrale sole, salmon, rockfish, albacore, black cod, Dungeness crab, spot prawns, oysters, and clams, as well as Oregon-grown wasabi. Down the road, he hopes to source and serve invasive green crab.  Whereas many sushi restaurants buy the same selection of fish, flown in from Tokyo fish markets, Sato is most interested in serving local seafood. “If people come from New York, or anywhere … they get to try something unique to Portland.” The restaurant’s name means “ripples” in Japanese and he’s hopeful that continuing in his commitment to thoughtful sourcing, will continue to grow the impact of his activism. The no-substitutions model may help him gently push diners beyond their preconceived expectations of sushi, and what an omakase experience might look like.  There are a couple of distinguishing factors for which guests will want to plan ahead. First, reservations are required with no exceptions, and can be booked through Sazanami’s online scheduling page. Second, Sazanami is an adults-only restaurant; nobody under 21 is permitted, reservation or not. Because of the counter-seating format, the restaurant also can’t accommodate parties larger than four.  Sazanami is located at 10053 SW Nimbus Avenue in Beaverton. Reservations are required. ...read more read less