Award-Winning Oakland County Restaurant Permanently Closes, Owner Says

CLAWSON, MI — A small, award-winning seafood restaurant in Oakland County permanently closed down over the weekend.

Sozai, a small, 13-seat sushi bar located along 14 Mile Road in Clawson, shut down Saturday.

Owner and chef Hajime Sato said he and his family are moving back to the Pacific Northwest.

"It will be extremely difficult to leave Sozai behind," Sato said. "I put everything I had into building something special for my customers and to further my work as a sustainable seafood advocate."

Sato, a well-known advocate for sustainable sushi, seafood and fishing methods, was named the Best Chef in the Great Lakes region in 2024 by the James Beard Foundation. It was the first time the award had been given to a sushi restaurant and the first for a Michigan chef in a regional Best Chef category since 2003.

"I’ve been doing ocean conservation and sustainable sushi for 15 years and oceans are not good, as you know, Earth is not in good shape and small restaurants like me cannot really do that much," Sato said during his acceptance speech. "Now everybody here nominations, winners — now you have a voice."

It was the second time that Sato was a James Beard finalist. He also landed a spot in the 2023 James Beard Foundation Awards category for Outstanding Chef.

Sato opened Sozai in 2021 and it quickly received many local and national accolades, including being named by Bon Appetit magazine as one of the country’s best new restaurants and 2022 Detroit Free Pres Restaurant of the Year.

The restaurant was best known for its seafood, especially sushi and fried shrimp. It was also known for serving only sustainable seafood and sourcing from ethical sources.

Before opening Sozai, Sato who grew up in Japan, had a restaurant in Seattle for more than 25 years.