Chef Jeff Osaka

Born in Los Angeles, where the food is as diverse as the city’s culture, chef and visionary Jeff Osaka has always been fascinated by the restaurant industry and praise from critics and peers alike for his indelible contributions to the culinary world.

Throughout his 25 years of experience, Osaka has worked as an executive chef and restaurateur as well as a private consultant, cooking and catering for some of the most notable names in Hollywood (including Steven Spielberg) and alongside Chefs Bradley Ogden at One Market and Wolfgang Puck at Chinois Las Vegas. While at Chinois, Chef Osaka refined his cooking technique to deftly implement Puck’s concept of marrying Asian cuisine with French influences. Following his time in Las Vegas, Osaka moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming where he, alongside friend and Wine Director Ken Fredrickson M.S., opened Restaurant Terroir in 1998 which was followed by Asian–influenced Koshu in 2000.

In November of 2008, Osaka brought his experience and passion to Denver, Colo. where he opened twelve, a restaurant intensely inspired by the changing seasons as the restaurant’s entire menu changed every month. By the time twelve closed in August 2014, Osaka had featured more than 70 different menus and 1,000 different dishes during the restaurant’s highly successful six–year reign.

In 2014, Chef Jeff Osaka received a James Beard Foundation Best Chef Southwest semifinalist nomination.

In 2015, Chef Osaka opened Osaka Ramen, his interpretation of a traditional ramen shops well as Sushi–Rama, a conveyor–belt sushi concept, both located in the heart of the RiNo Arts District. In fall 2016, Osaka, alongside business partner Ken Wolf, introduced Denver Central Market and later that year, Chef brought back his critically acclaimed twelve concept with 12@Madison in the Congress Park neighborhood (which sadly shuttered in May 2020 in the midst of COVID–19).

Now in 2022, Sushi–Rama x Osaka Ramen has expanded with locations in DTC, Lone Tree, Aurora and inside Denver International Airport with another location set to open in Broomfield, Colo. in the summer of 2022

Designed to be Different.

Sushi-Rama’s interior was designed by Denver architect LIVstudio and inspired by the Cineramas of the 1970s. Each location offers retro vibes with a conveyor belt or kaiten, bringing a fun and unique dining experience that allows guests to enjoy quick service while sampling different types of sushi from the extensive selection of fish flown in daily.

An Innovative Way to Dine.

Sourced from the same places as the finest sushi restaurants, our high-tech kitchen gadgets allow us to offer sushi at a better value. A finely-tuned microchip system allows the team to easily identify and remove plates that have been on the conveyor belt for 90 minutes. Additional technological advancements in automated kitchen gadgets allow Chef Osaka to keep costs down and quality up. For example, a “sushi printer” presses layers of rice onto sheets of nori for sushi.

The menu and experience are designed to be accessible and engaging. The conveyor belt allows guests to start grabbing plates as soon as they sit down and to try things they normally wouldn’t thanks to just two pieces per plate!

Fast Casual. Full Service.

Another element that sets us apart from traditional kaiten is our staff. Our Executive Chef for all Sushi-Rama locations, Shaun Motoda, takes pride in ensuring the freshest, fastest, tastiest food comes out from the kitchen, every time. Our waitstaff adds to the experience with their warmth and efficiency. All guests are greeted in less than a minute from when they arrive, no matter how busy we are, and unlike most other conveyor belt sushi restaurants that are totally self-service, our staff is always ready to serve you a cup of green tea, or your favorite sake, tasty beer or craft cocktail.