The good news: Shota Nakajima is readying a restaurant called Banzai Teriyaki that offers everything from elegant appetizers to a kids menu to a massive rooftop patio. The news you perhaps weren’t expecting: This project is located in Cle Elum.
Last year, Nakajima partnered with a Bellevue- and Cle Elum–based businessman named Eric Bolstad to launch a preternaturally fresh-tasting teriyaki sauce under his Make Umami label. Bolstad, as it happens, also owned real estate in downtown Cle Elum. Nakajima knows the area well as a jumping-off point for his frequent mushroom foraging trips.
The idea, says the chef, is to bring more restaurants and nightlife businesses
→ Continue reading at SeattleMet