Kisser Announces Opening Date of March 25

One of the most anticipated restaurant openings in town finally has a date. Kisser begins operation on Saturday, March 25, in the Highland Yards development in East Nashville at 747 Douglas Ave. 

Ever since I first had the chance to experience Brian Lea and Leina Horii’s cuisine at their Kisser pop-up at The Patterson House back in the summer of ’21, I'd been waiting for them to finally open their own restaurant so I could enjoy it again on the regular. (Fellow Scene contributor Ashley Brantley loved it too!) At the time, they were still trying to figure out what and where their new restaurant could be, but the couple’s experience working with Strategic Hospitality concepts like The Catbird Seat, Le Sel and Bastion gave Max and Ben Goldberg the leg up on partnering with the couple.

The restaurant’s name is a play on the Japanese word kissaten, a neighborhood cafe where neighbors gather to eat, drink and hang out. Not as structured and masculine as an izakaya, kissatens focus more on what you could call Japanese comfort foods, a specialty that Lea and Horii concentrated on after recognizing how popular the fare was at numerous farmers market pop-ups and catering gigs that they cooked for. (That first pop-up at The Patterson House emphasized more the couple’s style of Japanese barbecue.)

That inaugural menu will feature items that Horii draws from childhood memories, including the already legendary chicken katsu sandwich, a fried chicken sandwich with cabbage slaw, tonkatsu sauce, and Kisser’s popular fresh-baked and toasted milk bread, curry udon, and Inari, a traditionally simple dish made of tofu skin and rice, filled with various seasonal vegetables and seafood.

“We really wanted to create a space that was an extension of our home,” shares Horii. “So much of our cooking reflects Japanese comfort foods, and we wanted to make the experience feel like we were welcoming guests into our home. So many of my food memories are from the local kissaten with my grandparents in Japan, where regional, nostalgic Japanese foods are served. We just really wanted to re-create that experience for a modern audience.”

“They’ve been leaning on Leina’s take on comfort food throughout the pandemic at the markets and were shocked by their success and how much repeat business they were doing," says Ben Goldberg of Strategic Hospitality. “This sort of immediate feedback helped to streamline and systemize their processes and hone in on the vision for the first menu.”

Ben's brother and business partner Max Goldberg says partnering with the couple was “an organic process.” “Our greatest joy is working with the most talented people to help them realize their vision,” he says. “We had a familial relationship with them already, and we feel lucky to be on this journey together. What do they say? When someone offers you a seat on a rocket ship, you don’t ask which seat to sit in!”

Adds Ben, “They are two of the greatest humans ever!”

The menu is intended to be inclusive to as many diners as possible with options for a variety of dietary restrictions and allergies. Seasonality will also be a key, including many herbs and vegetables grown by the chefs in their own garden. The beverage program will revolve around both alcohol and nonalcoholic items, featuring natural wines, Japanese beers and sake. Kisser will also serve a collaboration craft beer made by Harding House Brewing Co. The Belgian farmhouse-style was brewed using koshihikari rice and local Tennessee yeast and grains.

“Most Japanese beers are like crisp lagers,” explains Lea, “but we really like farmhouse-style ales.” Those types of beer are also regarded as exceptionally food-friendly, so this sounds like a great choice!

There’s no hiding out in the kitchen at Kisser. Open to the dining room, what you see is what they have to work with to create their food, with the exception of a small walk-in and dish pit behind the wall. The creative space is equipped with four burners and a grill, a couple of kettle cookers, a combi oven and a small smoker for cold-smoking ingredients.

“We’ve got plenty of experience working in small kitchens at Catbird and Bastion, where you have to be really intentional in your movements and workflow,” says Horii. The compact design was also informed by Lea and Horii’s experiences working in and watching kitchens in Japan and Europe, which required precise movements to operate in.

The main wall of the cozy 800-square-foot restaurant space features a tranquil aqua/green wall of love tiles that the couple installed themselves. The attractive area seats 40 and gets lots of natural light flowing in through a large transparent garage door that can be opened when the weather allows, and another retractable window that allows for seating on both sides of a short bar — half in the restaurant and half in the hallway of Highland Yards.

Kisser will only be open for lunch from Thursday through Monday from 11 a.m until 2:30 p.m., for at least the first few weeks. They hope to eventually expand to dinner service.

They also expect carry-out to be a big part of their business based on their experience working at all those pop-ups over the past two years. Online ordering and counter-service ordering for takeout is planned for the near future, but at opening, it will be table service only in the first-come, first-served seating area.

“We’ve always wanted a simple restaurant where we could cook the food we love,” shares Lea. “There are so many types of food in Japanese cuisine that we feel are unrepresented, and we’re thrilled to bridge that gap and bring something we think is special and unique to Nashville.”

It’s been a long wait for all involved, and if you want to be among the first served that first Saturday, you'd better get there early.