INCOMING: Kamikaze 7

Celeb chef Kevin Roberts to open rock ‘n’ roll sushi joint, Kamikaze 7

Kevin Roberts just snagged two recipes from iconic sushi chef Jiro Ono (star of documentary film Jiro Dreams of Sushi). Come January, he’ll serve them at his new spot in the Gaslamp—Kamikaze 7 Sushi Joint (411 Market St., formerly Shorelines Gallery).

Now bicoastal, Roberts has done well. The former Next Food Network Star contestant, cookbook author and co-founder of East Village Tavern went on to become Frank’s Red Hot Sauce spokesman, host of TLC’s BBQ Pitmasters and this year’s consulting chef for the New York Yankees.

And as the self-proclaimed “Food Dude,” he’s no austere sushi devotee. “Sushi’s become so boring,” he says. “I’ll go into some places and get yelled at for asking for a sake bomb. We’ll have 15 different types of sake bombs.”

For K7, he’s pulled in some big-time partners, including Jay Z’s go-to designer Gregory Okshteyn and restaurant consultant group Jaime Partners (Searsucker, Gaijin, etc.). For design, think samurai sword chandeliers, nunchuk lights, Godzilla movies on loop, DJs and eye-candy galore.

“Imagine Quentin Tarantino meets sushi,” says Roberts, noting his scorpion roll will include actual ground-up scorpion.

As for those Jiro recipes? Roberts recently spent quality time with the $400/dinner itamae and coaxed a preparation for bonito and one for Jiro’s glaze that makes the world a tastier place.

K7 will serve as the test concept, which Roberts is planning to also launch in New York. Downtown San Diego has been fairly under-sushi’d for years, with arguably three quality options (Taka, Nobu, Katsuya).

Kanpai.

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