Live Jazz
Life Jazz Band Every Monday Night
7PM-11PM.

Pre-Theater Menu Monday-Thursday:
$24.95 any 3 dishes on the menu
with a glass of red/white wine.
(Black Cod & Cobe Brisket not
included).

Operations
Monday-Thursday 5PM-2AM
Friday 5PM-3AM
Saturday 11AM-3AM
Sunday 11AM-2AM
Brunch 11AM-3PM Saturday-Sunday
Saturday-Sunday food not served
3PM-5PM (Bar is open, welcome).

Kaz Okochi

Chef/Owner, Kaz Sushi Bistro

And Chef/Partner, MASA 14

 

Born and raised in Nagoya, Japan, Kaz Okochi traveled to the United States in the late 1970s to study fine arts in Oklahoma.  After graduation in 1982, Okochi returned to Japan to attend the Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka, one of Japan's premier culinary schools.  At Tsuji he became interested in French cuisine and also explored such fields as Chinese cooking, pastry, ice carving, and traditional Japanese fare.  It was his dream to return to the United States and develop his own style of Japanese cuisine.

 

Kaz Okochi completed his formal training in sushi and torafugu (blowfish) preparation and then in 1988, he relocated to Washington, D.C. to work at Washington’s first sushi bar, Sushi-Ko.  As Executive Chef, Kaz was involved in both food preparation and other aspects of restaurant management.  He was one of the first Japanese chefs in America to develop modern menu items from old, time-honored Japanese recipes, and he was the first to introduce premium Japanese sakes to the nation's capital in 1992.

 

In 1999, Chef Okochi opened KAZ Sushi Bistro in downtown Washington, D.C. which was named one of the year's top five new restaurants by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, and quickly escalated to one of the capital area's hottest Japanese dining destinations.  Over the past ten years, KAZ Sushi Bistro has received numerous accolades from Zagat, Washingtonian and The Washington Post, as well as the 2006 RAMMY Award for Informal Dining Restaurant of the Year.  Always on the "cutting edge," Chef Kaz works with Japanese, Western, and other international flavors to create what he calls "freestyle Japanese cuisine"—original presentations, often with a modern twist.  Kaz is also one of few chefs in the area trained to handle torafugu (blowfish), a great delicacy which can be poisonous if not cleaned and prepared properly.

 

Additionally, Kaz Okochi is one of the founding members of DC Chef's Club, along with Roberto Donna, Michel Richard and Jeff Buben. Together they created the organization to honor the legendary Chef Jean-Louis Palladin. Kaz also supports a variety of local charity events, as well as national and international food organizations and is an active member of the James Beard Foundation in New York, and the Food and Fun Event in Iceland.

 

Kaz Okochi is currently working on the menu development for his newest venture, MASA 14, which he is opening with longtime chef/friend Richard Sandoval of Modern Mexican Group.  MASA 14 is scheduled to open mid-September for dinner service and Saturday and Sunday brunch at 1825 14th Street, NW offering Latin-Asian cuisine.

 

 


 

 

Site Currently Under Construction.