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CINCINNATI (WXIX) – A celebrity chef and restaurateur has plans to open a Japanese restaurant in Cincinnati this summer, bringing new, yet traditional flavors to the city. <\/p>\n
Owner and Chef Makoto Okuwa has restaurants all over the world from Miami to Sao Paulo to Madrid. Now he is ready to bring his cuisine to the Midwest. <\/p>\n
Suzu, located at Madison Square in Madisonville, is set to open in July, making it the first Makoto brick-and-mortar in the Midwest. <\/p>\n
The restaurant\u2019s central theme is all about balance, walking the line between tradition and modernity. Customers will be sure to see that in Suzu\u2019s cuisine and interior spaces.<\/p>\n
Suzu will offer customers a signature Japanese experience with its 150-guest indoor and 70-guest outdoor dining options. Traditional seating options include dining in the suzun\u00e9, a 10-seat Edo-style omakase counter, or inside the tea room, which can be booked for intimate gatherings. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want each guest who walks through the doors to feel that sense of warmth, intention, and respect for ingredients and leave feeling that they\u2019ve shared a remarkable experience with our chefs, staff, and the people they dined with,\u201d said Makoto. <\/p>\n
Suzu is more than Cincinnati\u2019s newest Japanese restaurant. It is also a reflection of Chef Makoto\u2019s childhood and culture. <\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up, my mother and grandmother showed me how much care goes into preparing food for others,\u201d he said. \u201cThat spirit lives in every dish we\u2019ll serve at Suzu.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those dishes include sushi, rice and noodle options, and Japanese grill items. <\/p>\n
Watch more FOX19 NOW videos<\/a><\/p>\n For more than 25 years, Makoto has honed his skills and has since become a Master of Modern Japanese cuisine and Edomae-style sushi. <\/p>\n His career started when he was a teenager in his hometown of Nagoya, Japan, about about 215 miles (346 kilometers) from Tokyo. <\/p>\n At 15, he trained under master sushi chefs, later working for world-renowned Master Sushi chef Haruyoshi Matsuda. A decade later, he worked closely with Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. <\/p>\n Today, Makoto owns multiple restaurants across the globe. In just a few months, one of those will be in Cincinnati. <\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n