Shota Nakajima is busy creating his namesake restaurant Naka at 15th and Pine (Image: CHS)

To create a kaiseki experience — and the prices that will accompany it — chef Shota Nakajima says he needed to have Capitol Hill’s already rich and robust dining scene in place. He thinks it’s ready.

“The concept requires Capitol Hill,” Nakajima said. “It’s an experience people are ready for in Seattle.”

The chef/owner’s Naka is planned to open in June inside the space left empty after French-focused concern Le Zinc surrendered its berth on Capitol Hill after 18 months of business at 15th and Pine.

Nakajima and business partner Jason Lock’s takeover of the space eases the Le Zinc mid-lease exit and opens the corner restaurant and bar to its second chance to make it as part of upper Pike/Pine’s dining scene. One aspect of the transition will be made easier by plans the partners put in place as they searched for a location. Nakajima and Lock were already working with Graham Baba on Naka’s design — turns out, Graham Baba created the Le Zinc space.

Nakajima will expand the upper bar area to make more room to enjoy a more casual bar menu and to add more shelves to hold shochu, sake, and Japanese whiskeys.

(Images: Naka)

Below, chef Naka will showcase his kaiseki creations:

Shota Nakajima used to cook at Sushi Kappo Tamura, though I’d never heard his name until I was a judge at Seattle’s first Itadakimasu Day, a Japanese cooking competition for chefs who grew up outside Japan. And after experiencing his edible interpretation of a Japanese snowfall that night—a dish that wowed judges and ultimately won him the competition—I’m pretty damn excited about his plans to open a contemporary kaiseki restaurant on Capitol Hill.

The seasonally focused, multi-course meals are a Japanese tradition but the style fits into contemporary fine dining’s trends and are signature elements at $$$$$ players on the Hill like Altura and Marron.

Nakajima and Lock came up with the project after collaborating as consultants on a similar concept for another restaurateur. Nakajima hopes he can bridge the premium world of kaiseki to a more Capitol Hill aesthetic with his casual bar menu and a straightforward approach to creating a menu that is clear and only dabbles lightly in the exotic.

“I don’t want guests to have to think too much,” Nakajima said. “The emphasis should be on enjoying the food.”

For anybody who wants to think a little more, Nakajima said he’ll also have an a la carte menu with 15 to 20 items. But, slowly, over time, chef Naka said he hopes to be able to complicate things with a savvy Capitol Hill dining scene — just a little.

“I don’t want our guests to feel intimidated at all,” Nakajima said. “I feel my gut. I just thought it was the right timing.”

Naka is planned to open at 1449 E Pine in June. You can learn more at nakaseattle.com.

 Capitol Hill food+drink notes

• Kurt Farm Shop is now open in Chophouse Row — and pretty delicious.
  

  

  Timmermeister at work in the shadows (Images: CHS)
• The Molly Moon’s ice cream window is back open at Hello Robin’s cookie baker on 19th Ave E. These apparently anti-dairy protesters welcomed the shop back for the 2015 summer season:
• A Central District favorite closed this spring with little attention. The Judkins Street Cafe closed in March because its building was set to be demolished to make way for new construction. The restaurant made its home at 2608 S. Judkins for just over four years and billed itself as a place serving healthy comfort food. According to owner Michael McGloin, Greenbuild Development will construct townhomes on the property. McGloin said he hopes to reopen in the area but neighborhood options are limited.
• It’s Seattle Beer Week. It’s probably too late to get into some of the most popular parties around the Hill but you can read about them (and weep) at seattlebeerweek.com.
• As of mid-April, Optimism Brewing said it had another month before brewing can start. We’re waaaaiting!
• Starbucks didn’t respond to our questions about the naughty sign hack that appeared above its E Olive Way location briefly Tuesday morning. But the company did confirm that, yup, its Broadway shop at Republican — the last of the plain-ol’, basic Starbucks on Capitol Hill — is getting a store makeover.
• Zpizza owner Ritu Shah-Burnham said she doesn’t know if we’ll see a wave of chain closures on Broadway because of the city’s minimum wage rules for franchises.
• The former Boom Noodle at 12th and Pike is set to become Boom Noodle once again.
• Rooster’s Bar and Grill is now open on Broadway. Here’s what it looks like inside.
  

  
• Cupcake Royale is looking for a new manager for its Capitol Hill cafe.
• A few Capitol Hill restaurants are having their names and menus used in a shady operation documented here by Geekwire:
  Thousands of websites linked to the OrderAhead food delivery service are posing falsely as authorized restaurant websites — diverting traffic from official restaurant sites and taking orders for food without the knowledge of restaurant operators.
  CHS saw a fake site for Stateside involved in the operation. Beware of others.
• Lark’s new home and Revolver’s E Olive Way bar are award-winning. Both were recognized at the Seattle Design Awards.
• Happy birthdays to Crumble and Flake and Lost Lake.
• The Roanoke celebrates 20 years Saturday.