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LIFESTYLE

Miyozen: An Amazing Sushi and Sake Oasis

Roger Brigham
Connection Staff
September 2007

It’s an unlikely restaurant in an unlikely location, but since opening last year Miyozen has become one of Emeryville’s up-and-coming go-to restaurants.

Located on the corner of Fortieth Street and San Pablo Avenue, Miyozen is a sushi-and-sake oasis whose striking interior design and artfully crafted sushi and rolls both seem to be the work of an artist.

Which is as it should be, since owner Ki Chang Kim was a trained illustrator and graphic designer before he forged a name in the restaurant business.

“When I was studying at California College of the Arts 17 or 18 years ago,” Kim said, “I saw lots of Mom-and-Pop kinds of restaurants. But while the city of Oakland was growing, a lot of them shutdown. I wanted a restaurant like that.”

He worked as a sous chef and master chef when he purchased his first restaurant and established Koryo Sushi in Oakland’s Temescal District. He followed up that success with Drunken Fish in Oakland on Broadway and Piedmont.

And now Miyzoen.

“When I was an illustrator, I had to work by myself all day and night,” Kim said. “I didn’t get to meet a lot of people.

“In the restaurant business, I get to meet new people all of the time. What I really like is when I see someone come here from one of my other restaurants and we already know each other.”

The corner of 40th and San Pablo wasn’t his first choice, but he said it has proved to be a successful one, and the restaurant now serves about 150 people a day while drawing in local families and workers.

“I was being too picky about the location before,” he said. “The thing I’ve learned is that if you have something that you can take to your clientele and they enjoy it, it doesn’t matter so much where you are.

Kim runs all three of his restaurants with his wife and business partner, Susan. When they opened Miyozen, they put in a children’s room at the special request of their sons, Ryan and Calvin.

“Lots of people come in for business meetings. And lots of people say they’re happy they have a restaurant in Emeryville they can bring their kids. We offer upscale cuisine in a family friendly environment.

“The Chamber has really helped me a lot. And the City of Emeryville? I have never met such nice city employees before. They really help with answers when you have questions.”

The centerpiece of the restaurant is a long conveyer belt that keeps the sushi selections rolling by for diners sitting along side it can pluck off as they pass. Private tables are located around the soothing black and red dining rooms, and two large conference tables in a side room have an open view of a playroom for restless children.

Besides rolls and sushi, Miyzoen offers a selection of tempura, bento boxes and sashimi. And as if the mesmerizing sushi belt sailing selections around the room and through the walls weren’t reason enough to visit, you really have to see the restrooms. Beyond clean and bright, they are, to borrow a line from “Victor, Victoria” simply “a religious experience.”

Roger Brigham is a writer for The Emeryville

Connection. If you have a question or comment, please contact him at ecocnews@gmail.com