By Vanessa Wolf

Sansei’s Issei Combo. Photo by Vanessa Wolf

Popular chef/restaurateur, D.K. Kodama is opening a Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar on the corner of Pine and 9th Streets in downtown Seattle. The opening is scheduled for Fall 2015.

“I spent three years in the Seattle area before returning to Hawai’i to open the first Sansei at Kapalua in 1996,” says Kodama. “I think it’s a perfect match for our food and overall restaurant concept. Of course, all the great seafood they have in the Pacific Northwest will definitely make its way onto our menu.”

“Sansei will be the front door for Premiere where the tower meets the activity and energy of Pine Street,” says Jeff Bernard with Holland Partner Group, the building’s developer. “The corner of 9th and Pine is in the heart of Seattle’s retail and entertainment district, along the Pike-Pine corridor. Sansei is the perfect restaurant to be at the gateway of Seattle’s newest destination dining neighborhood.”

CLO Design is designing the new restaurant, a 3,500 square-foot space slated to have a “contemporary, clean and upscale vibe.”

Master Sommelier Chuck Furuya, who has partnered with Kodama for more than a decade, is creating the wine list for Sansei. Furuya, one of the first ten Master Sommeliers designated in the United States, is a recognized expert on paring wines with Pacific Rim cuisine.

Kodama currently owns six restaurants on three islands. Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar on Pine will be his first venture on the mainland.