The Empire Lounge & Restaurant, located in Historic Old Town Louisville, has been a staple on Main Street since 2008. Serving American Comfort Food, with a style of its own, The Empire has something for just about anyone. The Empire was opened by Chef Jim Cohen and managed by his daughter, Lexi Scott, until renovations and a partial ownership change in Summer 2019. The Empire continues the tradition of excellent food in a comforting yet upscale environment under Chef Jeff Osaka. Jeff Osaka, like Jim, is also a James Beard nominated chef, who continues the Empire business partnership with Ken Wolf.  Jeff Osaka also owns several Denver restaurants, including Sushi Rama and Osaka Ramen.

Jeff Osaka:

Born in Los Angeles, where the food is as diverse as the city’s culture, chef and visionary Jeff Osaka has always been fascinated by the restaurant industry and has garnered praise from critics and peers alike for his indelible contributions to the culinary world.

Throughout his 25 years of experience, Osaka has worked as a private consultant, cooking and catering for some of the most notable names in Hollywood (including Steven Spielberg) and alongside Chefs Bradley Ogden at One Market and Wolfgang Puck at Chinois Las Vegas. While at Chinois, Chef Osaka refined his cooking technique to deftly implement Puck’s concept of marrying Asian cuisine with French influences. Following his time in Las Vegas, Osaka moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming where he, alongside friend and Wine Director Ken Fredrickson M.S., opened Restaurant Terroir in 1998 which was followed by Asian-influenced Koshu in 2000.

In November of 2008, Osaka brought his experience and passion to Denver, Colo. where he opened twelve, a restaurant intensely inspired by the changing seasons as the restaurant’s entire menu changed every month. By the time twelve closed in August 2014, Osaka had featured more than 70 different menus and 1,000 different dishes during the restaurant’s highly successful six-year reign.

In 2014, Chef Jeff Osaka received a James Beard Foundation Best Chef Southwest semifinalist nomination.In 2015, Chef Osaka opened Osaka Ramen, his interpretation of a traditional ramen shop as well as Sushi-Rama, a conveyor-belt sushi concept, both located in the heart of the RiNo Arts District. In fall 2016, Osaka, alongside business partner Ken Wolf, introduced Denver Central Market and later that year, Chef brought back his critically-acclaimed twelve concept with 12@Madison in the Congress Park neighborhood. In 2018, Sushi-Rama expanded with locations in DTC, Lone Tree, and Denver International Airport and a fifth location opened in April 2019 in Aurora, Colorado. Most recently, Chef Osaka took over operations and is revamping The Empire Lounge & Restaurant in Louisville, Colo., a main street favorite for classic American.

Once upon a time in Louisville..