He’s not your typical Japanese gastropub chef

Published May 20, 2010 4:00am ET



Tall and lean, with an artful tattoo embellishing one arm, native New Yorker Darren Lee Norris looks like a typical nonchef sort of guy in his casual clothing. But looks can be deceiving. Norris is the executive chef and driving energy behind a new Japanese concept in D.C.: a Japanese gastropub, featuring a charcoal-fired grill (the robata), sushi created by chefs from Tokyo, and an aggressively intoxicating sake program. Its name? Kushi Izakaya & Sushi.

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