Former James Beard Award nominee ShinBay closes doors in Scottsdale

Fine-dining restaurant ShinBay, a “Best New Restaurant” semifinalist in 2012 at the prestigious James Beard Awards, has closed on the northeast corner of Scottsdale and Indian Bend in Scottsdale.

AZ Central’s Dominic Armato confirmed Sunday night’s closure with chef Shinji Kurita.

Kurita originally opened ShinBay in Ahwatukee in 2001. It had a five-year run, was closed for five years, then surprisingly was resurrected in 2011 at the Seville Shopping Center.

ShinBay, which seated just 30 people, specialized in Japanese omakase (multicourse menus chosen by the chef) that started at $100 per person.

Kurita tells Armato via email:

“I feel, generally speaking, fine-dining restaurants here have difficulty surviving through summer, but especially as my Japanese courses consist of a lot of raw seafood, it somehow limited more diners. We often had diners who decided not to dine with us because one of their companions could not eat raw seafood.”