Kaede takes its name from the Japanese maple, a tree the restaurant says mirrors Portland's shifting seasons. It describes itself as a "sushi-kappo" restaurant, working from the motto "simple yet sophisticated one bite," with a tasting menu built on fish, shellfish, and foundational Japanese ingredients like dashi, soy sauce, and miso.
Owner and executive chef Izumi Uehara trained at Hattori Nutrition College in Tokyo before cooking at Hotel Okura's Yamazato in Amsterdam, an Edomae sushi restaurant in Tokyo, and later in San Francisco and Sausalito kitchens. Head sushi chef Shinji Uehara came up at Kaioh, a sushi-kappou restaurant in Fukuoka, then moved through kaiseki and izakaya kitchens in Japan before working as a sushi chef and eventually head sushi chef at Sanraku in San Francisco. The two opened Kaede together in Southeast Portland in 2021.
Guests can sit at the sushi counter or at table seating, with both built around the same tasting menu. Kaede has developed a local reputation as an intimate, detail-driven omakah counter, with regulars pointing to the freshness of the fish and the precision behind each course.
Owner and executive chef Izumi Uehara trained at Hattori Nutrition College in Tokyo before cooking at Hotel Okura's Yamazato in Amsterdam, an Edomae sushi restaurant in Tokyo, and later in San Francisco and Sausalito kitchens. Head sushi chef Shinji Uehara came up at Kaioh, a sushi-kappou restaurant in Fukuoka, then moved through kaiseki and izakaya kitchens in Japan before working as a sushi chef and eventually head sushi chef at Sanraku in San Francisco. The two opened Kaede together in Southeast Portland in 2021.
Guests can sit at the sushi counter or at table seating, with both built around the same tasting menu. Kaede has developed a local reputation as an intimate, detail-driven omakah counter, with regulars pointing to the freshness of the fish and the precision behind each course.