Here’s what to know about the Big D’s influx of chef’s choice sushi experiences.
With a deft , steady deal — a practiced mitt — a blade slices through fresh tuna with precision . Decades of experience show with each knife shot . The chef delicately drapes the Pisces over loose brick of perfectly seasoned rice before adding subtle flourishes of wasabi and soya bean . Across the retort , the diner , featherbrained as each bite lands before them , pop the whole piece in their lip . This transcendent experience — in this casing atTatsutucked inside a niche of the Continental Gin Building — isn’t your typical dinner out . But there ’s been a noticeable inflow of omakase in Dallas recently .
Yes , Dallas embraced sushi long ago , as did other metropolitan cities in the US . Here , neighborhoods and surrounding suburb teem with sushi smirch , from fooling to upscale , and sushi even appears on menus of select steakhouses and other non - sushi - specific restaurants . Omakase is another realm of raw fish experiences .
In Japaneseomakasetranslates to “ I pull up stakes it up to you ” and is the buffet car ’s room of signal they rely the chef to craft their meal precisely as they see fit . It ’s like a culinary corporate trust fall . democratic restaurants likeUchi , Nobu , Tei - An , andEdokoprovide an omakase selection in improver to their even menus , andNamosupplements its regular service with omakase on prize Wednesday . Even your standard sushi parry is probable to offer a chef ’s choice experience , if you involve . But the retiring two years have see a surge of conception give to omakase : custom - buckingShoyo , reliable - to - classic - form Tatsu , among a growing list of small , intimate omakase hideaway of 12 or less seat .
Photo courtesy of Sushi | Bar Hospitality
Shoyo opened in the middle of 2021 , meanwhile Tatsu followed suit in May 2022 . Both were extremely anticipated openings from well-thought-of chef , ready to fertilize Dallas ’s collective hunger for the omakase experience already present in cities like New York and San Francisco . And both are now regarded as two of the best restaurants in the metropolis , menses .
Since then , we ’ve witnessed a growing handful of Modern omakase spots , includingKinzo Sushiin Frisco andYujoin North Dallas . Pearl Sushiin Knox - Henderson is n’t purely omakase , but there ’s a “ swear your chef ” option where Nobu - civilise chef Shine Tamaoki can put together an omakase experience ( best enjoyed at the sushi bar).Shodoin the Design District has a individual omakase room . AndKaiyo , a new construct on Lower Greenville from Shoyo ’s Jimmy Park , is a rough izakaya unlike its sister construct , but it still offers a turn out chef ’s pick nigiri trajectory each night .
Ryan Stock , CEO of Adept Hospitality , the chemical group behind Sushi | Bar , conceive that we ’re a long way from reaching the vividness point , particularly considering that omakase eatery are small by nature . “ A newfangled chophouse unfold with 300 nates , and no one blinks , ” he sound out .
Photo courtesy of Tatsu
Two of the new omakase - only restaurants are imports from elsewhere : Sushi by Scratch at the Adolphus Hotel business district and Sushi | Bar in the East Quarter district . Both concept were started by chef Phillip Frankland Lee , but he ’s now centre on the former while the latter control severally . The eating place are similar in design , and the carte du jour sport many of the same creative flourishes .
Sushi by Scratch start in Los Angeles and now has localization in several securities industry , including Austin , Chicago , Miami , Seattle , and Montreal . The Dallas iteration function as a papa - up inside an Adolphus hotel suite , but Lee and the property are already crop to make it lasting .
Chef Lee describes the concept as a miscellany of Edo - stop sushi — when fish was not served raw but preserved , cure , fermented , salted , or otherwise treated and served as a street collation — and post World War II , when sushi chefs brought the snack indoors , and many began to serve well sushi sans computer menu , foreground their hometowns or personal way .
Sushi | Bar interior|Photo courtesy of Sushi | Bar Hospitality
Lee hails from the San Fernando Valley , so he puts his own California - accentuate stamp on Sushi by Scratch ’s omakase preparation via house made sauces and garnish . The hamachi , for example , is top with mellisonant corn pudding and sourdough crumb , in addition to homemade soybean and fresh wasabi , and the eatery ’s yuzu kosho incorporate poblano peppers .
“ We ’re closer to traditional than many people give us acknowledgment for , ” says Lee . “ It still tastes like sushi and observe the fish , but it sport some of the ingredient from my home . ”
Tatsu chef - proprietor Tatsuya Sekiguchi like that more omakase options have permit diners to experience how each chef draw near omakase and puts their own spin on the conception . It ’s also large for chefs .
Sushi by Scratch|Photo by Chad Wadsworth
“ As chefs , we can look at each others ’ styles and inspire each other to further improve our acquisition , ” he says . And he consider that Dallas ’s food for thought culture can only profit from this . “ I am very esteemed to be able to be a part of this growth . I am confident that Dallas will become a food town on par with New York and LA in the cheeseparing future . ”
Sekiguchi take his position seriously , explaining that he has a two - part deputation . “ One is to further convey traditional Japanese food refinement to the great unwashed in Dallas . And the other thing is to attract great chefs from around the land and add them to Dallas . I want to make Dallas the number one gourmet urban center in the res publica . ”
So get on the omakase boom .
