A neighborhood dining treasure like the Summerlin-adjacent Other Mama doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel to stay relevant. But like any good relationship, “you can’t just put it on autopilot,” chef and owner Dan Krohmer says. “You have to keep it going, add new things to it.”
That’s the intention behind the recent refresh at Other Mama, where Krohmer has expanded on the Japanese and seafood-centric fare with new menu items, and added an additional space for what he hopes will become an “underground, little weird boutique bar.”
“My first job is doing sushi. We’ve always been kind of one foot in, one foot out with it, just because there’s so many places here with all-you-can-eat,” he says. “Now with the extra space, we’re going to be moving the bar program over here, and we’re gonna have more room to have more sushi chefs. We really want to be the presence of sushi on the west side of town.”
Other Mama’s raw bar reputation has carried it through the last nine years. But Krohmer sees the refresh as a chance to reinvest. After juggling different projects in the past, the chef and restaurateur has settled back down to “perfect what we’re currently working on.”
Food-wise, that means more ways to enjoy Other Mama. There are more a la carte options, more entrees, more sushi rolls and more ways to lure in the “fun, eclectic first date crowd.” But instead of using spectacle, Krohmer is banking on the basics.
“I eat differently these days. I’ve traveled a lot in the past 10 years and I like being somewhere like the Dominican Republic, where you just get a fried fish with a thing of rice, slice of avocado and a little bit of salad,” he says. “The generation of chefs trying to impress everybody with their exceptional creativity is dying constantly. People want value. People want quality. People want communication. People want you to remember their name. That kind of stuff is important.”
Krohmer digs into the classics on this updated menu, bringing Oysters Rockefeller ($21) back for the first time in years. The original, he says, featured a rich helping of foie gras, but he evolves the dish with creamed spinach and pork belly. The pan-crisp king crab cakes ($23), with a glaze of chili cashew sauce, is another memorable addition.
“This is also the first time we’ve just had a classic fried calamari,” Krohmer says. “We’ve always had our Rhode Island-style and it was always heavily dressed. But this is one of those things where I just wanted to make it more comfortable for first time people.”
And then there’s the presence of the oven-roasted black cod miso ($17), a wildly popular dish Krohmer has become more than a little familiar with over the years.
“I worked for [chef Masaharu] Morimoto for a very long time, and I probably made 10,000 orders. Every Nobu person has made black cod miso for a bazillion years,” he says. “I didn’t want to put it on forever just because I was stubborn. I was like, ‘I’m done with this!’ Then I put it on as a special and it just went crazy.”
Krohmer refuses to classify his “sidecar bar business” in the vacated space next door as a true expansion, but it will beef up Other Mama’s seating capacity by 50%. “It felt like adding a new addition to your home where all of a sudden you feel really happy to be at home again,” he says.
He envisions the galley-style bar serving guests who pop in without a reservation while waiting for a table. A well-priced happy hour is in development, and while the bar does have a wall of TVs, don’t expect to see any sports on them.
“What I want to bring back is that old-school sushi bar feeling,” he says. “It’s not some formal omakase or a tasting menu. It’s just, I like whiskey. I like toro, and that’s just what I want.”
OTHER MAMA 3655 S. Durango Drive #6, 702-463-8382, othermama.com. Daily, 5-10 p.m.
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