Kamikaze 7 Sushi Preview with The Food Dude

Kevin Roberts is tapping into what he learned on a 10-day trip to Japan.

The restaurateur says he ate blowfish (fugu, at the place he’s pictured above) and deciphered the subway system and picked up sushi tips from Jiro Ono--whom you remember from the documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.”

Roberts dined at Jiro’s Michelin Guide 3-star sushi bar, Sukiyabashi Jiro.

“He gave me the recipe for Jiro paint,” was how Roberts described the sauce the Japanese chef brushes onto nigiri sushi. “I can’t tell you what’s in it.”

For sure, Roberts’ yellowtail belly will be varnished with “Jiro paint” when his new Kamikaze 7 sushi spot opens downtown in March.

And there’ll be green tea chicken, brown rice, soy paper-wrapped sushi rolls, edamame guacamole, 15 different sake bombs, picnic-style tables, Kobe beef, DJs, Japanese whiskeys and beers, a legally blind sushi chef, a graffiti-inspired mural (from the artist who created Gang Kitchen’s mural) AND samurai sword chandeliers -- Roberts bragged that Jay-Z uses his Kamikaze 7 designer, StudiosGO.

Roberts, AKA “The Food Dude,” is known for his bowling-alley-restaurants (East Village Tavern+Bowl; Eastlake Tavern+Bowl; North County Tavern+Bowl).

You’ve seen him on TV (“The Next Food Network Star”; “The Today Show” guest appearances).

He brings that “It’s showtime!” energy to his new idea: Roberts calls Kamikaze 7 “rock ‘n roll sushi.” He made a lot of references to the Tarantino film “Kill Bill” when describing his upcoming sushi restaurant. The spot’s name was originally rumored to be “Fish on Rice,” but Roberts went with this one. “Seven is a lucky number. And in Japanese kamikaze means ‘a gentle breeze.’ Everybody thinks it’s (only) a suicide pilot.”

Yeah, but there will be WWII-looking fuselage over by the bathrooms.

Kamikaze 7, 411 Market St. Coming March 2013.

Read more from Keli Dailey on utsandiego.com

Pictured: Restaurateur and TV personality Kevin Roberts, doing “research” in Japan. -- courtesy photo

Source: DiscoverSD