Taste

New Mandalay Bay Japanese restaurant gets a name and a chef

The Light Group is set to open Kumi this summer

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Mandalay Bay’s new Kumi restaurant will feature the cuisine of executive sushi chef Toshiyuki Motoyama.

The Light Group has announced the details behind its third restaurant project at Mandalay Bay. Kumi, a new Japanese concept, will open this summer in the space formerly occupied by China Grill.

The Light Group also has recently opened Citizens Kitchen & Bar and renovated Red Square at the south-Strip resort, and will open Light Nightclub this month and Daylight Beach Club next month there, too.

Kumi features the cuisine of executive sushi chef Toshiyuki Motoyama, a native of Yokohama, Japan, who was trained in traditional edomae sushi technique and studied under the famed Mr. Yamada at Kyubei. He traveled to the United States to work at the age of 19 and has spent time at Izaka-ya in San Jose, California, and Makoto in Miami. He joined the Light team in Miami last year as sushi chef at Umi at the Delano South Beach resort.

Kumi's cuisine is described as fun, fresh and approachable, Japanese with influences of Thai, Peruvian, Latin and other Asian cultures. The new dining room is designed by Toronto-based Munge Leung and will feature beverages displayed in traditional Japanese jewelry cases at the bar, raw natural woods, hammered steel accents and touches of red lacquer. The ceiling will be decorated with traditional calligraphy in gold leaf on black. The central sushi bar will feature glazed cobalt blue tile framed by cherry blossom trees.

Tags: Dining
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Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of managing editor at Las Vegas Weekly ...

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