Shota Nakajima used to cook at Sushi Kappo Tamura, though I'd never heard his name until I was a judge at Seattle’s first Itadakimasu Day, a Japanese cooking competition for chefs who grew up outside Japan. And after experiencing his edible interpretation of a Japanese snowfall that night—a dish that wowed judges and ultimately won him the competition—I'm pretty damn excited about his plans to open a contemporary kaiseki restaurant on Capitol Hill. 

Naka will open this summer, hopefully June, at 1449 East Pine. Though Nakajima will draw from Japan’s kaiseki tradition of serving coursed meals—a progression of artful plates, each one celebrating the season and its ingredients—his menus will have a contemporary feel. 

Though his will be a fine dining spot, Nakajima says it won't have the level of formality associated with traditional kaiseki: “I don’t want an atmosphere where everybody feels like they have to wear a suit. I want diners to feel like they can actually come in jeans.” 

Naka will have an a la carte menu, but the main draw will undoubtedly be the three tasting menus. There’s the five-course meal, where guests choose dishes from the menu, or the Naka kaiseki—10 courses selected by the kitchen. If you really want to go big, call a week in advance and request the chef kaiseki; Nakajima will head to the market and design an occasion-worthy progression of small bites, about 15 or 20 dishes total. The prices will range from $75 to $175 per person. 

Nakajima grew up in Bellevue and spent nearly five years training in Japan, at Osaka's Tsuji Culinary Arts Institute, then at Michelin-starred Sakamoto, which illuminated a host of cooking techniques he says aren't common in the U.S. When he returned to Seattle he cooked at Sushi Kappo Tamura, then went on to consult and cater, taking any kind of job that might better prepare him for running his own restaurant.

The chef is already thinking about how to write menus to not come off as overly opaque or fussy and weighing which ingredients (kombu and tuna flakes, to start) are worth ordering directly from Japan. His business partner Jason Lock, a veteran of El Gaucho Bellevue and Miller's Guild, will run the dining room.

The former Le Zinc space is getting a bit of a makeover. Naka’s dining room will seat 48 people; the adjacent bar will hold another 22 and will have its own more casual food menu plus a focus on shochu, sake, and Japanese whiskey.

Naka is a bold move in a town still deciding how it feels about tasting menus, but a true kaiseki experience is a magical thing—part theater, part incredible dinner, plus a chance to spend a few hours reconnecting with whomever is across the table. Follow the restaurant's progress on Naka's Facebook page.