Foodie News
More Kirby restaurant turmoil: Another place shutters to make way for a new hybrid cuisine bistro
This year has been a turbulent one for bars and restaurants along Upper Kirby with places like Trenza, St. Genevieve and Brio closing. Now just as both The Tasting Room and Sorrel Urban Bistro are making way for new operators, restaurant group LWC Concepts' Onaga Pan Asian Bistro at the corner of Shepherd and West Alabama has closed to step aside for a new restaurant called Maiko Bar & Bistro.
Pitched as serving a fusion sounding hybrid labeled Third Coast Asian cuisine, Maiko intends to feature dishes that blend Asian flavors with local ingredients, as in truffle duck mac & cheese and beef short ribs served with coconut yam puree. The sushi bar remains. The now de rigueur house cocktail list rounds out the offerings.
Maiko arrives in a neighborhood where Asian fusion is something of a hot trend.
"Under the direction of chef Jeff Smith, Maiko Bar & Bistro features a very focused, seasonal menu (that's) quite different from a typical Asian restaurant,” Larina Chen, co-owner of LWC Concepts said in a statement. “Chef Jeff incorporates locally-sourced ingredients when possible, and sauces and dressings are made from scratch in-house."
Maiko arrives in a neighborhood where Asian fusion is something of a hot trend, with both Nara and Dosi offering updated takes on Korean food, and popular restaurant Aka Sushi set to update its menu with dishes from its sister restaurant Tiger Den.
Maiko's opening date is set for Oct. 27. It will be open every day for dinner.