Other Mama

From Morimoto to Kumamoto to the Desert

Dan Krohmer trained under Masaharu Morimoto in Philadelphia, working the line at the Iron Chef’s flagship restaurant during a period when Morimoto was redefining Japanese cuisine for American audiences. From there, Krohmer left for Japan — not Tokyo or Osaka, but rural Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, where he spent nearly two years studying sushi technique and kaiseki, the multi-course seasonal tradition that emphasizes precision and restraint over spectacle. Between kitchens, Krohmer also toured as a personal chef for rock bands, an unusual detour that took him across the country before he eventually landed in Las Vegas.

Other Mama opened in 2015 at 3655 South Durango Drive in the Spring Valley area, a residential corridor west of the Strip that had been steadily accumulating neighborhood restaurants. Krohmer built the concept around a sushi and raw bar anchored by a cocktail program — an uncommon combination in a city where sushi restaurants and cocktail lounges tend to occupy separate worlds. The menu leans toward seafood-forward small plates, omakase-style presentations, and shareable dishes that reflect both the Japanese training and the freewheeling creativity Krohmer picked up along the way. In its first year, Other Mama won Best Restaurant Cocktails from a local publication — a telling signal that the drinks were competing with the food for attention.

Other Mama in the Las Vegas Valley

The stretch of South Durango Drive near Spring Mountain Road has become one of the most concentrated local dining neighborhoods in Las Vegas, clustered with independent restaurants that cater to residents rather than tourists. Other Mama fits that profile precisely — it draws almost entirely from the west-side local population and the broader off-Strip dining crowd that treats the Chinatown corridor and surrounding blocks as the city’s real culinary center. Krohmer has won Best Restaurant Off Strip twice and Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year, and he later opened Hatsumi on Fremont East, expanding his presence into the downtown revival district. Other Mama remains the original, the room where Krohmer first proved that a chef with Morimoto credentials and years in rural Japan could build something distinctly Las Vegas in a strip mall on Durango.

Owner

Dan Krohmer

Founded

2015

Address

3655 S Durango Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89147

Phone

(702) 463-8382

Website

othermama.com