New Restaurant Specializing in Japanese Hand Rolls Opens in Flushing

A new Japanese restaurant called Kaizen has opened in Flushing (Photo provided by Stuntman PR)

July 18, 2022 By Michael Dorgan

A new restaurant that specializes in Japanese hand rolls has opened in Flushing.

Kaizen, which offers sushi hand rolls known as “temaki,” opened late last month at 33-70 Farrington St. — a new 15-story-mixed-use development located between 33rd and 35th Avenue.

The business has moved into a 1,900-square-foot space on the ground floor of the building that includes luxury condos and the Sheraton Four Points Hotel.

Kaizen focuses on temaki hand rolls which consist of a large piece of roasted seaweed wrapped around a filling of sushi rice, vegetables and different types of raw seafood.

The restaurant also offers a range of donburi-style rice bowls, salads and soups.

Kaizen offers an à la carte menu as well as an “omakase” style menu — whereby the customer lets the chef select and serve different food options. Omakase means “Respectfully leaving another to decide what is best” in Japanese.

The eatery is the first business owned by Robert Dorsky, 37, who was born and raised in Flushing.

Dorsky said there is a lack of temaki restaurants in Flushing using the omakase concept — despite the area’s large Asian population. He said the menu is popular in Japan and the company aims to fill a gap in the local market.

“Kaizen is a modern, casually elegant restaurant,” Dorsky said. “It is great for intimate settings and casual dinners.”

The establishment seats over 60 people and has a ceiling-high tree that is filled with fabric cherry blossom leaves imported from the U.K. The wall behind the bar area is filled with live sea moss, Dorsky said.

Some of the handrolls on offer at Kaizen, located at 33-70 Farrington St. (Photo provided by Stuntman PR)

Dorsky said that the name of the restaurant, Kaizen, means “improvement” in Japanese. The term has become a world-renowned approach to continuous improvement in business, particularly for companies using supply chain or production line systems.

He wants his restaurant to embrace the concept with Executive Chef Ben Chan spearheading the establishment’s food menu. Chan has worked in Hong Kong and at several top Manhattan sushi restaurants, Dorsky said.

Some of the restaurant’s signature handrolls include the kinmedai, which is made with homemade yuzu apple sauce; the akami which is filled with lean tuna and tofu chili sauce; and the yellowtail jalapeño which comes with shallots, aji Japanese horse mackerel and ginger scallion.

Other top rolls include the kamasu yuzu temaki, otoro uni pickled radish and the wagyu uni caviar.

Kaizen also offers beers, wines, cocktails and a range of Japanese rice wines known as saké.

Opening hours are from 5 p.m. to midnight Mondays through Sundays.

Kaizen seats over 60 people and has a ceiling-high tree that is filled with fabric cherry blossoms flown in from the U.K. The wall behind the bar area is filled with live sea moss. (Photo provided by Stuntman PR)