New Chef Brings Fresh Look To Kaizen Tavern In Del Ray

ALEXANDRIA, VA — A chef behind several Old Town restaurants is now bringing his culinary experience to Kaizen Tavern in Del Ray. The restaurant introduced a new menu from Chef and Owner Melvin Urrutia.

Urrutia was formerly the executive chef at The Handover ALX, People’s Drug and the now-closed sushi favorite, Flying Fish in Old Town, Alexandria. The chef started cooking at age 10 and worked his way up from a dishwasher at age 15 to sous chef at age 18. He now has over 15 years of experience as a master sushi chef.

That experience is reflected in Kaizen Tavern's new menu. The menu has a variety of traditional hand rolls, specialty rolls and sushi entrees as well as street-style snacks. Among the snack options are the spicy tuna tacos with spicy tuna, avocado, ponzu, spicy mayo and fried plantains; bulgogi taco with pork belly, kimchi, avocado and bulgogi sauce; and yucas bravas with kimchi, pork belly and mango kaffir lime sauce. Specialty rolls include the Chef Deco with spicy tuna, avocado, potato crisp, black/orange tobiko and sweet & spicy sauce; Firecracker with crab stick, cream cheese, salmon, red tobiko and scallions; and more. The menu is rounded out with new craft cocktails from the bar.

Aside from menu changes, the restaurant made slight interior and exterior design changes. Local artist Rives Wiley created new painted art inside, and Amy Eggers designed the new Del Ray Flower Wall outside.

To celebrate the new chef and menu, Kaizen Tavern will have a private launch party at 5 p.m. on Monday, July 19. The restaurant is open daily for takeout starting at 4 p.m. and dinner service starting at 5 p.m. New hours will begin on Tuesday, July 20. Sunday to Wednesday hours will be 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner, and Thursday to Saturday hours will be 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Seasonal daily hour specials will be offered from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

For reservations, call 703-836-1212. Online ordering and more information are available at kaizen-tavern.com. Kaizen Tavern is located at 1909 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria.