Meet +81 Sushi Kappo – an exciting new benchmark for Brisbane dining

If Hisatake Kamori has learned anything in his career, it’s that patience is, perhaps, the most important virtue one can have.

The president of Kamori Kanko Corporation has spent his decades-long career building a portfolio that stretches from Japan to Australia, encompassing everything from resorts and hotels to golf courses and amusement parks (including Queensland’s own Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary).

One doesn’t amass such a diverse assortment without knowing when to seize an opportunity, or let it simmer. His latest endeavour, the 12-seat West End restaurant +81 Sushi Kappo, is the perfect example of that well-honed restraint.

The venue has been in the works for approximately six years, with Hisatake carefully laying the groundwork for what he believes will be a benchmark-setting dining destination for Brisbane.

Over the past couple of years, Hisatake and his team have transformed a trio of tenancies on the corner of Montague Road and Jane Street into a miniature hub, anchored by striking artisanal distillery BY.ARTISANS and nationally praised cocktail spot Aizome Bar.

Sandwiched between the two is +81 Sushi Kappo – a meticulously crafted venue that embraces a number of concepts, chiefly ‘omotenashi’ (the Japanese concept of selfless hospitality), ‘wabi-sabi’ (the wisdom of natural simplicity), ‘shinshin ichinyo’ (the unity of body and mind through food) and ‘onko sōshin’ – a term that refers to the reimagining of tradition.

Taken together, these principles form the philosophical backbone of +81 Sushi Kappo. But ambition of this scale demands precision, which is why Hisatake and his team waited until the right chef could be secured before opening the doors.

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Enter Tokyo-trained chef Ikuo Kobayashi, who joins +81 Sushi Kappo after a storied career spent working at some of Japan’s most esteemed sushi restaurants, including Michelin-starred Kyubey, Sushi Kanesaka, Sushi Saito and Sushi Iwa.

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“I’ve worked with Ikuo Kobayashi for over a decade, across very different kitchens and contexts, and what has always stood out is both the depth of his classical training and the consistency of his execution,” says Hisatake. “His food is precise, balanced and deeply satisfying, without ever feeling showy.”

When Hisatake first approached Kobayashi, he didn’t simply offer a role. Instead, he proposed a challenge: to step beyond convention and apply his discipline to a culinary experience that would be as progressive as it was radical.

“The defining moment came when I asked him to fundamentally rethink sushi shari (seasoned, vinegared short-grain rice that is a foundational building block of sushi and the heart of Edomae cuisine),” recalls Hisatake. “I asked him to strip it back, remove mirin, introduce spirulina and rebuild it in a way that still respected tradition while pushing it forward. That’s not a small request for any chef of his calibre, particularly one grounded in such a disciplined culinary lineage.

“While many other chefs would not even try, Kobayashi-san engaged deeply, questioned thoughtfully, and delivered something that tasted as good, if not better than the original.”

At +81, guests are guided through a seafood-focused omakase menu, with Kobayashi preparing each course kappo-style — meaning ‘to cut and cook’ — directly at the counter. The menu shifts constantly, responding to micro-seasons and drawing on the best local produce alongside select specialty ingredients sourced from Japan.

Those familiar with high-end Japanese dining will quickly recognise that Kobayashi’s menu sits apart from anything else currently offered in Brisbane. Considerable care has been taken to ensure the experience is accessible to a wide range of dietary requirements, with traditional problem ingredients thoughtfully reimagined.

Refined sugar gives way to blue agave syrup, wheat flour to rice flour, potato starch and gluten-free flour, and milk to soy milk. Pork is absent; eggs are used sparingly. Fermented elements such as miso, mirin, sake lees, katsuobushi and salt koji take centre stage.

“I wanted to create something everyone could enjoy,” Hisatake tells us. “There are people that are limited to what they can eat due to health reasons. For us, consideration for every guest is paramount and that philosophy is exactly where this concept was born.”

The +81 menu unfolds across roughly 11 courses, each typically comprising one or two meticulously composed morsels. Following a welcoming cup of bonito broth, the procession may include otsukuri (a sashimi assortment), Canadian snow crab with Japanese tofu and kudzu broth, sake-steamed tiger abalone with tororo yam and liver sauce, and tempura Carpentaria Gulf king prawn.

Between courses, a succession of nigiri arrives, and it’s here that +81’s most distinctive ingredient — the sushi shari — takes focus. Each piece is served atop one of two rices: a refined bamboo charcoal shari or a vivid blue shari infused with spirulina sourced exclusively from VAXA in Iceland. Over the course of the evening, toppings may include straw-seared local bonito, Marble King wagyu sirloin, Tasmanian southern bluefin tuna (akami, chutoro and otoro), and Hokkaido uni.

Overseeing the beverage offering is venue manager and head sommelier Sean Lam (formerly of Atria, Ryne and Flower Drum), whose 120-reference list spans artisanal sake, premium and rare Japanese whiskies, champagne, and a curated selection of Australian and international wines. Guests may also opt for one of three rotating pairings designed to echo the nuance of the kappo menu, or select from Aizome Bar’s neo cocktails, created by award-winning bartender Tony Huang.

The same restraint evident on the plate carries through to the Alexander Lotersztain-designed interior – a monochromatic space rich in detail yet deliberately subdued, ensuring the focus remains on the food. A connected lounge, rendered in the same deep indigo hues as Aizome Bar, offers a place to linger after the final course.

“The design of the venue is like a theatre, created for the food to truly shine,” Hisatake explains. “Every detail, the cutlery, the crockery, is chosen with care, enhancing the story of each dish and reflecting the seasonality that guides our menu.”

For Hisatake Kamori, the opening of +81 Sushi Kappo is not the culmination of a business plan, but the articulation of a philosophy shaped by time – one that values patience, consideration and the conviction to wait until conditions are right. In a city evolving as rapidly as Brisbane, the restaurant feels less like a gamble than a dialogue – between tradition and reinvention, between host and guest, and between a city’s present appetite and its future potential.

“I think it will definitely be a pioneer, in a sense,” says Hisatake. “We took a leap because we have a lot more people moving into Brisbane who have an appetite for this kind of high-end sophisticated food. We thought it would be a good opportunity to set a new benchmark – I think if we can create that new standard, we will be contributing to Brisbane’s future.”

+81 Sushi Kappo is now open to the public. For operating hours and booking info, head to The Directory.