Between Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer, Maynard James Keenan juggles many musical commitments, but his entrepreneurial endeavors might keep him even busier. The man blessed with one of the world's most powerful angelic/demonic howls is also a gastronome extraordinaire. For years, Keenan has been running a winery in his adopted home of Arizona's Verde Valley. Two years ago he and his wife Jennifer expanded Queen B Vinyl Café, where you could already buy records and get your hair cut, to include a café and coffee roaster. Now he's opening a sushi restaurant too.
On Sept. 4, Queen B Sushi will open at 816 N. Main St. in Old Town Cottonwood, Arizona. It sounds like this one has been a long time coming, as Keenan explains:
Although I've been enjoying sushi since my days in Boston, circa 1987, my first Japanese tour wasn't until 2000 with A Perfect Circle. It was an eye opening and mind-blowing experience. While there, I picked up these amazing titanium and hard wood travel chopsticks from Snow Peak. And I've carried them with me ever since. Last year I ran into Janeane Garofalo at the Chelsea in NYC. She was saying to David Cross and Dave Hill, "I haven't seen Maynard in several years but one thing I remember is that he used to carry chopsticks in his pocket." At which point I reached into my pocket and pulled them out. Twenty-five years I've been carrying these chopsticks. That's how much I love sushi.
You can see those chopsticks in the photo above. Queen B Sushi is headed up Culinary Director Chef Brett Vibber, a veteran of Roka Akor's London, Hong Kong, and US locations. His two main hires: Chef Chuhiro "Thomas" Kato, who trained under Nobu Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills and Masaharu Morimoto in New York, and well-traveled Arizona native Chef Sheridan "Sher" Chase. Reservations are available now.
