🍣 Old Town Cottonwood is getting another reason to linger past dinner. The team behind Queen B Vinyl Café and Merkin Vineyards – musician Maynard James Keenan (pictured) and his wife, Jennifer – is opening a sister restaurant called Queen B Sushi. A grand opening is set for Sept. 4.
The new spot lands at 816 N. Main Street, just around the corner from the Vinyl Café, and leans into the same ‘‘grow it, source it locally, then put it on a plate’’ philosophy that runs through the Keenans’ other Verde Valley ventures.
Expect sustainably sourced seafood paired with vegetables pulled from Merkin’s own greenhouses and farms around Northern Arizona, plus a beverage list built around Queen B wines and Arizona sake.
The sushi program is being led by culinary director Brett Vibber, who’s cooked at Roka Akor outposts in London, Hong Kong, and across the U.S., and already runs the kitchens at Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria and Queen B Vinyl Café.
Who’s in the kitchen
According to Maynard, the idea for a dedicated sushi concept almost didn’t happen. He and Jen assumed finding a serious sushi chef in Cottonwood was a long shot, not realizing Vibber was already on the team. The menu got its trial run through pop-ups at the Vinyl Café before the crew decided it was ready for its own address.
Vibber isn’t working alone. He’s joined by Chuhiro ‘‘Thomas’’ Kato, who trained under Nobu Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills and Masaharu Morimoto in New York, and Sheridan ‘‘Sher’’ Chase, an Arizona native who cut his teeth in kitchens from California to Texas before coming home.
The space itself is intimate – 1,500 square feet with room for 44 guests, plus two private dining areas.
Expanding empire
It’s the latest expansion for the Keenans’ growing footprint in Old Town Cottonwood, which already includes the Vinyl Café’s record store, ramen house, coffee roaster, wine bar, barbershop, and tattoo station, alongside Merkin Vineyards’ winery, tasting room, and trattoria, and the appointment-only Caduceus Ventura Room next door.
