Finding a good business partner can be tricky. But when a professional relationship works, when trust is there, magic can happen. In the case of Kenji Kazoku, the new Japanese restaurant in Old Metairie, that magic happens on the plate in a setting that dazzles with verve and style.
The original partners, both raised in New Orleans East, are chef Matt Nguyen, a seasoned “itamae,” or head sushi chef, and Malachi Dupre, a former LSU football star and NFL wide receiver with a keen sense for business. The pair met when Dupre tasted the chef’s handicraft at Yakuza House.
“There are good Japanese restaurants here, but it’s hard to find a chef making things the traditional Japanese way with so much passion and precision,” Dupre says. “Matt lets the fish speak for itself.”…