A sushi restaurant with 10 locations nationwide plans to open a location in Denver’s Larimer Square this fall or winter, along with a Wagyu burger concept.
Sushi by Scratch, which is based in Los Angeles, offers omakase dinners in small and often luxurious spaces in some of the most expensive zip codes in the United States: Las Vegas, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Sonoma County, Seattle, Austin, Dallas Chicago and Miami. Its Montecito, Calif., counter was awarded a Michelin star in 2021 and 2022.
The company is part of Scratch Restaurants Group, which is owned by chef Phillip Frankland Lee — who has appeared on “Chopped,” “Cutthroat Kitchen” and “Top Chef” — and Margarita Kallas-Lee, a pastry chef. The husband-and-wife team owns several other restaurants as well.
Most Sushi by Scratch locations have just 10 seats and offer 18 small courses (plus dessert, a welcome cocktail and a farewell cocktail), all chosen by the chef — known as omakase-style dining in Japanese restaurants — but with a focus on nigiri, which is sushi served atop a mound of rice.
The company seeks out small spaces with a “speakeasy vibe,” according to previous company statements. For instance, it has used private dining rooms in existing restaurants, a hotel suite, and an unmarked room in an apartment building. The majority of its locations opened in 2023 and 2024 and more are in the works.
In addition, Frankland Lee plans to open Not a Damn Chance Burger, which the company describes as “a Wagyu cheeseburger collaboration project” with professional skateboarder Neen Williams. “The concept aims to deliver the pair’s take on the perfect double cheeseburger with a single menu item featuring a double patty of 100% RC Ranch wagyu beef, American cheese, secret sauce, onions, pickles and slightly tamed jalapeños.”
A restaurant spokeswoman said via email that each concept — both at 1441 Larimer St. — will have its own space, and that Sushi by Scratch “will honor its speakeasy-style with a separate, discrete entrance leading to a hidden lower-level space.”
Eater Seattle described Sushi by Scratch dinners — which cost around $185 per person in some of the cities and another $100 for drinks, including sake and whiskey — as being “closer to an immersive theatrical performance than a meal. Participants in each of three seatings over the course of the night ring a doorbell on a nearly unmarked door on the ground floor of a high-rise apartment building, then walk into a small bar with no windows and all-black walls, lit only by a mass of purple paper lanterns and spot-lighted bottles of Japanese whiskey.”
The Las Vegas Review-Journal called the meal “an intimate and quietly powerful celebration of ingredients, creativity and searching culinary intelligence.”
If it opens a location here, Sushi by Scratch would be the second high-end, limited-seating omakase experience in Denver. Ukiyo opened in February just around the corner from the address where Sushi by Scratch has applied for its liquor license. Led by chef Phraseuth “Paul” Sananikone, Ukiyo is a 12-seat chef’s counter serving 18 courses for $175 plus drinks. It is in the basement of Denver’s Bao Brewhouse, at 1317 14th St., also in Larimer Square.
(Editor’s note: This story has been edited to include a correct address.)
Originally Published: August 2, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.
