Don Pham

Don Pham is chef and owner of Sushi Ishikawa in Manhattan, New York City. Vietnamese-born, he came to the city and built his career through a succession of New York kitchens that shaped a distinctly personal approach to sushi. His work reflects a steady move from executive roles toward chef-owner authorship, with an emphasis on restraint, timing, seasonality, and close attention to the guest in front of him. Early in his career, Pham worked as Executive Chef at Geisha in New York City, beginning in 2003.

He later served as Master Sushi Chef at Geisha Table in Upper West Side, Manhattan, where the work deepened around precision, tempo, and the quiet discipline of serving one course after another with intention. From there he moved to Sushi Chef at Morimoto in Chelsea Market, New York City, then Head Chef at Kitaro in Upper West Side, New York City, and later Executive Sushi Chef at O Ya in New York City, beginning in 2015.

Across these kitchens, his style continued to develop through the fish, the rice, and the season, with each step reinforcing a method that values responsiveness over repetition. At Sushi Ishikawa, that approach becomes the restaurant’s defining feature. Pham customizes sushi selections for each guest, creating a personalized omakase rather than a fixed meal served identically to every seat. The experience is shaped by product availability, seasonality, and his own judgment, allowing the sequence to shift according to what is freshest and how he wants the meal to unfold.

The result is a balance of precision and improvisation, with each dinner assembled in the moment and made to feel immediate. Sushi Ishikawa’s signature offering is the MATSU 17-Courses Omakase, a 17-course menu that changes based on product availability, seasonality, and Pham’s whim. The structure remains consistent, but the contents are fluid, giving him room to respond to the ingredients and to the person dining. That flexibility is central to his cooking and to the restaurant’s identity.

Rather than presenting a rigid script, Pham treats the meal as something shaped course by course, with each selection reflecting his instinct and the conditions of the day. The restaurant’s omakase below $200 also drew notice from Eater, which described it as a not-so-common occurrence in New York City. In a city where sushi counters often sit far above that level, the price point became part of Sushi Ishikawa’s recognition, while the core of the experience remained Pham’s careful, personalized approach.

His work at the counter is defined by craftsmanship, responsiveness, and the freedom that comes with ownership, bringing together the discipline of years in New York kitchens with a style that is immediate, tailored, and attentive.