A brother-sister duo from Montgomery County are set to open Kenaki, a restaurant in Gaithersburg that will help more people discover sushi, or as Aki Ballogdajan puts it, “food that makes you dance.”
“There’s something about sushi, that when you eat a perfect piece of fish, and it’s so buttery and just melts in your mouth, it just makes you happy,” said Ballogdajan, who will run the front of the house while her chef brother, Ken, runs the kitchen at the restaurant. The pair just signed a lease for an 1,800-square-foot space in the Kentlands and hopes to open the restaurant this summer. Charlie Papadopoulos of Papadopoulos Properties represented the tenant and Ray Schupp of H&R Retail represented the landlord in the lease transaction.
Aki and Ken have known that blissful sushi feeling as long as they can remember, after growing up in their parents’ sushi restaurants, first Kyoko in Cleveland Park and then another restaurant of the same name in Frederick. They both went off and pursued other careers — Aki in IT and Ken studied business — but always came back to the idea of opening their own restaurant.
Ken, who ditched the business degree track, began working in the restaurant industry in Puerto Rico under chef Roberto Treviño, including making an appearance on "Iron Chef: America" with the noted chef. Upon his return to mainland U.S., Ken joined Raku as a corporate executive sous chef, eventually running the kitchens of all three of the group's restaurants in Dupont Circle, Cathedral Heights and Bethesda. While at Raku, Ken studied at L'Academie d'Cuisine in Bethesda and interned with "Top Chef" alum Bryan Voltaggio at Volt in Frederick.
“We both have been super loyal to both of our companies, and we enjoyed the experience but I think we’re kind of excited to do something on our own,” Aki said. “We are both super dedicated and focused on whatever is in front of us … and we always kind of work more hours than we should, so we thought maybe that would be better directed to our own business.”
Kenaki, which is located at the corner of Market Street and Center Point Way next to the Starbucks in the Kentlands, will have a sushi bar and a 40-seat dining room, and serve lunch and dinner daily. The lunch menu will be more casual, with orders placed at the host stand or sushi bar and then taken to go or eaten in. Dinner will be more formal, and Ken plans to offer an omakase, or tasting menu, for guests at the bar.
They’re currently lining up permits; the restaurant was designed by Heather Menegat. They expect to spend between $200,000 and $250,000 to open the restaurant, financing the project with their own funds as well as with a bank loan. Aki anticipates an opening sometime this summer.
The space was formerly home to another sushi restaurant that closed — something that Aki admits maybe should have given them pause. But they feel that because they live nearby in Clarksburg, they know the market and can deliver on a higher quality product.
“We have friends in Kentlands, we dine in Kentlands, and we know what it is we like to eat, so I think if we can just deliver on that,” she said. “Ken’s part of a very successful restaurant group currently, and he has helped to effect that.”
They also felt the suburban location would allow them to keep the restaurant more affordable, and thus, more approachable.
The Ballogdajans are encouraged by the changes that Kentlands’ new owner, Kimco Realty, is making at the property. Kimco (NYSE: KIM), which bought Kentlands in 2016, is creating a new cobblestone walkway through part of the development and adding retail space along the pedestrian thoroughfare. It is also bringing in Cinépolis, a luxury movie theater chain that offers leather recliners, assigned seating, and a full menu served by waiters while you watch movies.
“There’s a lot of foot traffic, and a lot of new retail people coming in,” said Aki, who acknowledged that the goal is to have multiple locations of Kenaki after they prove the concept. “It’s a pretty happening spot.”