James Beard Award-winning chef closes Sozai in Clawson
Less than a year after making headlines for winning a James Beard Award, chef Hajime Sato has closed his award-winning sustainable sushi restaurant Sozai in Clawson.
Sato confirmed the closing on Instagram Sunday evening after Saturday's final service.
"After an extended time of reflection, it is clear that the best thing for my family is for us to return to the Pacific Northwest," reads his statement. "It will be extremely difficult to leave Sozai behind. I put everything I had into building something special for my customers and to further my work as a sustainable seafood advocate. Thank you to everyone who has shared wonderful times with me at Sozai. I will cherish those memories. My sincerest hope is that you will continue to try new things!"
The sustainable sushi chef not only earned a bevy of local "best new restaurant" accolades from the Detroit-area food media after it opened in 2011, but took home the 2024 James Beard medal for Best Chef: Great Lakes. When reached by The Detroit News Sunday evening, Sato referred to his posted statement.
Sato's June win in Chicago was the first time a sushi restaurant had taken the prize in the Great Lakes category (open to chefs in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois), according to the nonprofit foundation named after the late American culinary hero James Beard. Sato is also the first chef with a Clawson restaurant to win any James Beard Award, and he's the first Michigan chef to win this category since 2011.
When he won, Sato hoped that the attention would shine a light on the importance of sustainable seafood. Sozai wasn't the type of sushi restaurant to serve California rolls and eel and other things that weren't totally ethically sourced and sustainable.
"It's great that I'm getting reservations, but if people are coming in here trying to eat my food and say, 'Where's the bluefin, where's the eel, where's the wagyu,' then I'm not doing my job. Nobody is," he told The Detroit News after his 2024 win.
mbaetens@detroitnews.com
More: Baetens: Chef Hajime Sato's James Beard award a win for Detroit and sustainability efforts
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: James Beard Award-winning chef closes Sozai in Clawson
