Groveland diners now have a proper place to sit down for their ramen fix. Kurosumi Kitchen, the Japanese-inspired restaurant known for smoked and marinated meats, celebrated its grand opening this week with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new home on East Broad Street.
The ceremony, hosted by the South Lake Chamber of Commerce, marked the restaurant's debut at 135 E. Broad St., Suite E, according to South Lake Tablet. The spot had previously operated out of 1504 Max Hooks Road, Suite I, before the move.
That relocation was about more than just a new address. Per South Lake Tablet's earlier reporting, the shift was intended to turn what had been a takeout-focused concept into a full sit-down dining experience, giving customers a proper dining room to go with the smoke and steam coming out of the kitchen.
Smoke Meets Noodles on the New Menu
Kurosumi Kitchen built its name on a particular combination: traditional Japanese cooking paired with smokehouse technique, a blend the restaurant's earlier coverage described as its defining trait. The restaurant's own site puts it plainly, stating that it specializes in “authentic Japanese-inspired cuisine where quality and technique come first,” according to kurosumi.co.
The menu leans into that identity with smoky meat bowls topped with hand-crafted soft-boiled eggs, crispy katsu cutlets, handmade dumplings, and rich house-made broths alongside smoked specialties, the restaurant's website notes. Premium wagyu and authentic Japanese ramen noodles round out a lineup built for both comforting classics and street-food-inspired bites, per the same site.
Broths That Take Days, Not Minutes
Behind the counter, the kitchen's approach to broth is notably unhurried. The restaurant's broths are made from scratch over four to five days, with meats smoked in-house, according to What Now Orlando's reporting on the reopening. Plans are also in place to eventually start making the ramen noodles in-house as well, the outlet reported.
Day-to-day operations are set to be led by Dustin Campbell and his wife, Nicole Isenhour, per What Now Orlando. Campbell has said the menu draws directly from his own travels, crediting what he ate in Japan combined with nearly two decades of restaurant experience for shaping the final lineup.
A Second Act for a Familiar Name
This isn't Kurosumi Kitchen's first ribbon cutting. The restaurant originally opened its doors in Groveland at the Max Hooks Road location, an occasion South Lake Tablet also marked with a chamber-hosted ribbon cutting at the time. That earlier opening introduced Groveland to the same mix of smoky Japanese flavors now served from the new Broad Street storefront.
With the move now complete and the doors officially open, Kurosumi Kitchen's bet is that a full sit-down setting will let its slow-built broths and smoked meats land the way they were meant to, in a dining room instead of a to-go bag.
