Sushi chefs swiftly rolled rice, fish and seaweed in front of dozens of new customers who visited a restaurant when it opened Tuesday.
KazuNori, located in a recently restored building on Gayley and Kinross avenues, is a sushi bar where chefs prepare sushi by hand instead of using a mat, said Clement Mok, one of the brand’s founding members. Diners sit around a square bar and watch chefs prepare their food.
The chain is a spin-off of the restaurant Sugarfish, which serves high-end traditional sushi. Both restaurants are owned by the company Sushi Nozawa. Westwood’s KazuNori is the restaurant’s second location.
Mok said he and other founders thought Westwood would be a good place for the restaurant because the other sushi restaurants in Westwood Village, like Yamato and Ami Sushi, offer more diverse menus but do not focus on hand rolls or prepare their food in front of customers.
“It’s a one-on-one relationship with the chef,” he added. “We felt there was a niche for our kind of food.”
Topa Management Company President Jim Brooks said the property company signed a lease with Sushi Nozawa because he thinks KazuNori has a unique style. He added the restaurant did not need much marketing because Sushi Nozawa restaurants have an existing customer base.
“Word of mouth caught fire after we signed the lease,” Brooks said.
Erica Fang, a fifth-year economics student, said she and her friends looked forward to the restaurant’s opening after they heard about it from the manager of the downtown Los Angeles location.
Kimberlee Vander Most, a UCLA External Affairs staff member and alumna, said she has watched the restaurant’s construction from her nearby parking spot and waited for it to open for months.
Brooks said the restaurant approached Topa Management about leasing the space in 2015, halfway through the building’s restoration to its original 1930s style.
Topa Management also combined two spaces and removed an upper level to make room for KazuNori and accommodate its design plans, he said.
Vander Most added she thinks KazuNori’s fresh ingredients and fish variety makes it different from other sushi restaurants in Westwood.
Nathalie Simon, a 21-year-old Westwood resident, said she frequently visits Sugarfish restaurants. She and her friends decided to go to KazuNori after seeing a friend’s Instagram post of a sushi chef preparing a roll.
She added she thinks the restaurant is a more affordable alternative to Sugarfish.
Dillon Rosenblatt, an 18-year-old Brentwood resident, said he was familiar with KazuNori but did not know a new location was opening in Westwood. He added he thinks he will visit Westwood more often because he will eat at the restaurant’s new location.
Brooks said he thinks KazuNori will attract people who work around Wilshire Boulevard and live in surrounding neighborhoods. He added he thinks the restaurant will contribute to Gayley Avenue becoming an active street for retail stores and restaurants.