A sushi counter on the east coast.
The room is the one where Michael and Kamila had their first date. The sign over the door is what changed.
Before KAMI there was O'Kami — a small place down the road, and the place where Michael and Kamila had their first date. A sushi restaurant on this coast had been Michael's quiet idea for more than eight years; the math felt obvious to him — the dhows come in every morning, the fish is on the beach by lunchtime, the ocean does the hardest part of the job. When O'Kami became available we took it on, kept the room, retuned the menu and the brand to fit Yap Yap, and let it run.
The menu is small on purpose. Caramelised-mango rolls, rainbow rolls, tuna tataki, the occasional chirashi bowl when the catch is right. Local fish where possible, imported rice, sauces made in-house. Vegan and gluten-free versions of anything. It is still slowly improving — so are the drinks, so is the room, so is the team. We are quietly grateful to every guest who has come back, written, brought a friend.
The place ended up named KAMI because Kamila is who runs the house and keeps the rhythm of it. Looking back, the name was always going to be that — and Kamila is the one Michael had been writing toward without knowing it. Sometimes the work tells you what the work is, in retrospect, and you accept that as destiny.