When summertime hits, chef Kenta Kamo has a nostalgic craving for kakigori, a kind of Japanese shaved ice flavored with sweet syrups.
Growing up, the co-owner of Michelin-recommended Temaki Den split time between his hometown in Louisiana and Japan, where his parents were from, with dual citizenship.
“Kakigori is something you’d see in the summers at Japanese festivals,” Kamo said. “And lately, there’s been a lot of high-end and craft shops popping up in Japan.”
To satisfy his craving, Kamo opened a Japanese shaved ice pop-up last weekend dubbed Kakigori Ken within The Source Hotel at 3330 Brighton Blvd. in the River North Art District.
“I’ve always loved shaved ice desserts, like Taiwanese ribbon ice or Korean bingsu, but there’s no Japanese kakigori in Denver,” Kamo said. “I thought it would be cool to introduce it to people since it’s always been my value or goal as a chef to introduce Japanese food culture to my guests.”
Kakigori is typically fluffier than the shaved ice you find in snow cones or snowball treats, and it’s usually sweetened with condensed milk and fruity syrups. “The key to the fluffy texture is a machine with really sharp blades, just like anything else in Japanese food,” Kamo said. “For instance, the sashimi knife is kind of a big factor in the final product of sushi.”
Kamo bought a kakigori machine last summer to start tinkering with recipes. He tried serving the frozen dessert at Temaki Den for a couple of weekends but needed more time to train an employee on how to execute the shaved ice craft.
Kakigori Ken is a temporary summer pop-up, taking over Bellota’s former soft-serve stand (Bellota closed last yearat The Source.The small walk-up window is open Friday through Sunday from 1 to 9 p.m. through September. “The Source was having trouble finding tenants, so I figured I’d fill the space for the summer,” Kamo said.
The pop-up has signature flavors, like Ujikintoki (matcha syrup with red bean paste, crème anglaise and a mochi ball on top), which “has surprisingly been the most popular,” Kamo said. There’s also a strawberry milk or strawberry yogurt flavor, plus rotating options like a dark chocolate cherry or the upcoming Palisade peach. And “for those who want a taste of ice cream,” there is a creamy tiramisu with coffee syrup and marsala wine.
All of Kakigori Ken’s milk, creams, in-house yogurts, condensed milk and whipped creams are sourced from Longmont. Kamo gets the seasonal fruits directly from Ela Family Farms in Hotchkiss. Kamo is also selling Japanese cream puffs from Miyagi-Dough in an effort to promote the local Japanese bakery.
“At the end of the day, this was the opportunity to share something I like not because I’m going to be a millionaire off of it,” Kamo said. “The beauty of pop-ups is that you don’t have to be fully financially committed to the idea, and sometimes the short-lived concepts, like Sandoitchi, really gain a lot of hype, so maybe this goes viral.”
If the summertime pop-up does well, Kamo said he’ll consider opening it as its permanent own brick and mortar in Denver. “I would love to open a Kakigori place and compete side by side with some of the ice cream spots in town,” he said.
Originally Published: July 26, 2024 at 8:10 a.m.
