Coastal Virginia Culinary Awards Winner 2024
From the Nov.-Dec. 2024 issue of Coastal Virginia Magazine:
“If I could give six stars, I would,” extols one a-fish-ionado. Indeed, chef-owner Kevin Chang’s perfectionism warrants a whole new scale, pristine piscinity glittering in assiduously sourced sushi and sashimi: uni from Hokkaido, kampachi from Kona, melt-on-your-tongue chuturo from Spain. Ever-innovative, he embellishes escolar with kizami (wasabi relish) and delights in veering cross-culturally as when an unexpected bounty of produce prompts an American-Southern/Japanese hybrid of Panko-Encrusted Fried Green Tomatoes topped with salmon and blue cheese on a bed of seaweed and cucumbers, finished with mustard miso.
Rolls exceed norms, and sublime presentations on exquisite tableware are suitable for framing. Suave cocktails and sake complete the picture. Chang and his wife Lim, overseeing the sophisticated, tranquil front-of-the-house, made a name at Nara before Town Center came calling. “Coming from New York, this is what I always wanted,” he says. “A restaurant surrounded by buildings.” Two decades later, it’s still big-city grade.
