17 North Beach Street
Nantucket, MA 02554
(508) 228-1515
Sushi Haven
11:11 Market & Bistro brings authentic Japanese fare to Nantucket.
FOOD & DRINK
story by David Creed
photography by Kit Noble
In 2011, Sean Durnin stepped foot on Nantucket for the first time. He was recruited by Lola 41 as one of the new sushi chefs, where he worked for four years. But long before his island days, Durnin aspired to open his own restaurant in his own space.
Durnin, well known across the island as the owner and operator of Sushi Sean 11:11 from several temporary locations and his food truck over the past few years, finally made his dream a reality after locking up a lease at 130 Pleasant Street—the former home of Petrichor, which closed late last year after a four-year run. Calling his new restaurant 11:11 Market & Bistro, the sushi aficionado debuted the market in mid-April with the bistro to follow in late summer or early fall. The restaurant is named after the numerology representation of 11:11, meaning balance and synchronicity—two characteristics that are evident in Japanese cuisine, according to Durnin.
“I have all these ideas floating around in my head of what I want to do and it’s difficult to harness when you don’t have a home base,” Durnin says. "This place is set up for success. It’s got an excellent kitchen; dining facilities are great; it’s got a 12-seat bar. All these little knick-knack ideas I had floating around in my head, we can finally transform into some Japanese fare.”
Durnin’s passion for making sushi dates back to his days working in a small sushi bar out in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in the mid-2000s. For years, he had been traveling to work in numerous high-end establishments as a chef, but watching these Japanese meals be prepared and served caught his eye. He explains, “Those
guys … they have a knife [and] a piece of fish, and looking at these dishes that are coming out … I was just blown away by the simplicity and the confidence in these guys of what they were doing and I just said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’”
Quickly after coming to island for Lola 41, Durnin noticed something was missing from his repertoire. He realized if he truly wanted to master his craft, he needed to go learn from the masters, himself. This prompted him to pack his things and move to Tokyo, Japan, in 2017 for almost five months, where he learned everything and anything about sushi while attending the Tokyo Sushi Academy. And now he’s using these talents within the new establishment.
The restaurant will have two faces, the first being a day market where locals can pick up grab-and-go items like Japanese milk bread sandwiches. “You can have different types [of food]. You can have egg sandwiches, you can have fried pork cutlets, you can have matcha tea and strawberry,” Durnin says. “They’re made with Japanese milk bread, which adds a different flavor, a sweeter flavor, and a different
texture to the sandwich. They’re very popular in Japan. Now that I have a facility, I want to start making my own Japanese bread and making
these sandwiches.”
Durnin also understands no matter how prepared he feels he is for this next stage in his culinary career, there will inevitably be challenges. He states, “You don’t go to a poker table playing with scared money.”
For success, risks will need to be taken and patience will need to be exercised. But in the big picture, Durnin feels like all of the pieces are in place for success. “Our business has worked in the past and it keeps evolving,” Durnin concludes. “We have good clientele and thank God. I am so grateful for that. … It is just putting out good food at a good value, treating the guests right, being polite, giving back. … This has all happened so fast. I can’t wait to get started.”
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