Chef Leonard Yu, owner of Michelin-starred Omakase Table, will open an even more intimate omakase restaurant called Ryokou on Dec. 14.
Located at the Abrams Fixtures development in Adair Park, across from members-only wine club The Vine Club, Chef Paul Gutting will take the lead at Ryokou.
Here, Gutting and Yu will meld together sushi and cooked Japanese small plates over eight courses. While most dishes presented during the omakase will feature traditional ingredients and preparations, others will take cues from Gutting’s Southern upbringing in Savannah.
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Opening Ryokou wasn’t on Yu’s radar last year until one of the chef’s regulars at Omakase Table on West Marietta Street mentioned he was redeveloping part of the old Abrams Fixtures building on Northside Drive. He told Yu he wanted the chef at the Adair Park complex and was willing to build a restaurant for him in one of the ground floor spaces.
Meanwhile, Yu was already in talks to open a second Omakase Table at Buckhead Landing, which should debut later this winter.
“Ryokou only seats ten people, so it’s a small restaurant. It will be slightly less expensive than Omakase Table,” Yu explained. “But this restaurant will serve more cooked dishes.”
Yu said the variety of sushi and cooked dishes offered during the omakase at Ryokou is worth the $195 price tag. Courses might see a progression of tuna in nigiri form, kegani chawanmushi (savory, steamed egg custard topped with horsehair crab,) and smoked wagyu beef and ramps pickled for two years.
Recently, Yu dipped into his Italian restaurant experience for a Ryokou pop-up dinner, serving a course of angel hair pasta tossed in a kegani-infused sauce and topped with crab meat to give the dish a Japanese twist.
In other words, Gutting will have room to play with the omakase courses at Ryokou.
Like Omakase Table, the Adair Park restaurant will feature fresh fish flown in weekly from Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan, and source its wagyu from the southern island of Kyushu.
With The Vine Club next door, Yu also has an extensive wine cellar to choose from, receiving guidance on by-the-glass options and pairings from owner Taylor Sublett. As with Omakase Table, Yu tapped veteran bartender and King Cube ice company founder Jeff Banks to create the cocktails for Ryokou.
The contemporary minimalist design at the Adair Park restaurant allows people to focus less on the space and more on the food, just as they would at an omakase in Japan.
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Yu founded Omakase Table as a pop-up before the pandemic, hosted at Silom Thai and Sushi on Lenox Road in Buckhead and later at the original Decatur location of Brush Sushi. He opened Omakase Table as a restaurant in 2022 at the Seven88 complex on West Marietta Street near the King Plow Arts Center.
Nightly seatings include courses of otsumami (tiny bites), nigiri, small plates like atsuyaki tamago castella (multi-layered omelet), hand rolls, and dessert.
Last month, Michelin awarded Omakase Table one star, something Yu wasn’t expecting when he received the invitation to the 2024 ceremony.
Since the Oct. 28 awards ceremony, Yu said Omakase Table is now fully booked nearly every night. That equates to around a 30% increase in reservations over the last month.
“I’ve been a chef for a long time. I never dreamed of getting Michelin, especially a star,” said Yu. “I thought I was going to be a recommended restaurant since my restaurant isn’t even two years old yet. I was genuinely surprised when they announced it as a star!”
Ryokou will open Dec. 14 at 565 Northside Drive, Adair Park. Reservation required.