Interview with Kevin He, owner
Q: How did you get involved in this business?
A: I came to America when I was 18. My cousin had a sushi restaurant in New York. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do so I went to his restaurant to help him. I thought sushi was amazing — it’s like artwork, you can give it a lot of life. That’s an amazing thing, food and art coming together. A friend asked me to come to Colorado eight years ago and when I came here, I saw that Denver was amazing. People are very peaceful, gentle and nice. I looked for a space to open a restaurant and opened Yum Asian Fusion and Sushi in Commerce City in 2009; it’s still very busy. I came to Colfax a lot and I really liked the Capitol Hill area. There’s a lot of history on Colfax. So, I thought “why not,” and started looking for a space on Colfax. I talked to the landlord here and I brought my friend who had been a sushi chef out from New York.
Q: What distinguishes you from other businesses in your category?
A: Every restaurant is special. Every chef has their own cuisine and specialty. In addition to sushi, we do teriyaki chicken and beef. We use hot steel to heat the teriyaki meals with vegetables on the bottom, it helps the chicken stay hot longer. We do a fusion style with the old traditional way and a new style mixed together. I think it’s a lot different than a lot of other restaurants. We have a hot rock steak where we sear the steak and have a hot rock that the customers can use to cook the steak at their table.
Q: What do you like best about your line of work?
A: It’s hard to say. We are so professional for all the ingredients we use. We are so different than a lot of restaurants because we want to be special, not just a sushi restaurant or a Japanese restaurant. I like being different, I want to be special.
Q: What is your business’ biggest challenge?
A: The biggest challenge is that the customers don’t know we’re here yet. I think once they know we are here, they will stay. We opened July 13, but have already had one customer come in three days in one week and another four to five times in two weeks.
Q: Something people might be surprised to learn about you or your business:
A: Over at Izu Sushi we always tell people about Japanese food and the operation of the restaurant and how to bring fresh fish and food to the customer. The customer can ask for advice. People come here to eat and they like to know the cuisine and we like to share that with them.
Profile
Business: Izu Sushi
Address: 1528 E. Colfax Ave.
Hours: 11 a.m. -10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. Fridays, noon-11 p.m. Saturdays, noon-10 p.m. Sundays
Founded: 2015
Contact: 303-284-7981,
Employees: 10
