Introducing Blue Sushi

New Heights sushi restaurant reels in sustainable catches and vegan eats

Sushi tastes better on a boat.

Courtesy of Blue Sushi Sake Grill

Houston's newest sushi restaurant has debuted in the Heights. Blue Sushi Sake Grill has opened its doors in the M-K-T Heights mixed-use development (600 N Shepherd Dr., Suite 500)

Part of the Omaha-based Flagship Restaurant Group, Blue Sushi serves an extensive selection of sushi (both nigiri and maki), sashimi, and prepared items that range from grilled items to hot and cold shareable plates. They can be paired with an extensive selection of wine, beer, sake, and cocktails.

Open for lunch and dinner daily, the restaurant distinguishes itself from other sushi restaurants by participating in the Monterey Bay Aquarium: Seafood Watch program to ensure that all of the fish it serves has been responsibly caught and/or humanely raised. Menus provide sourcing information for all of the seafood items served at the restaurant.

Those ingredients form the basis of a wide range of seafood-based dishes such as: Coconut Crab Soup with roasted corn, sweet potatoes, yellow curry, coconut milk, cilantro and chili oil; ceviche made with tilapia, white shrimp, lime juice, cucumber, cherry tomato, avocado, cilantro, sweet onion, jalapeño salsa, wonton crisps, togarashi, and chili oil; and nigiri and sashimi dishes such as the “Everything Smoked Salmon” (smoked salmon served on top of cream cheese stuffed rice tempura) and the Madai Chimichurri (red sea bream topped with cucumber, cherry tomato, aji rocoto, olive oil, marcona almonds, maldon sea salt, and chino chimichurri sauce).

Blue Sushi also offers more than 18 vegan items including maki rolls and a selection of specialty nigiri such as seaweed caviar and Unami BBQ eggplant eel.

Although Flagship Restaurant Group hails from Nebraska, it does have Houston ties. Co-founders Tony Gentile and Anthony Hitchcock, attended the University of Houston's Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership. Prior to founding Flagship with their business partners, Gentile and Hitchcock opened high-end Houston grocery store Central Market.

“We are so excited to be part of the Houston community and M-K-T Heights family! We may have Blue Sushi Sake Grill locations in 17 other destinations around the country, but every location is equally special to our company, Flagship Restaurant Group,” CEO Nick Hogan said in a statement. “This opening is going to be especially poignant, as two of our co-owners met in Houston over 20 years ago and we have so much shared history in this city. We are passionate about sustainability and providing an impactful dining experience to our guests, so we are excited to be part of a destination that has the same passion we do for culinary, beverage and responsible sourcing practices.”

Sushi tastes better on a boat.

Courtesy of Blue Sushi Sake Grill

Sushi tastes better on a boat.

wave goodbye, Wooster's

Midtown bar with creative cocktails and craft taps will close in February

Photo courtesy of Wooster's Garden

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A staple Midtown cocktail bar will soon serve its last drink. Wooster’s Garden will close on February 12, co-owner Jeff Barati announced on Instagram.

He paid tribute to the bar in an emotional post about its legacy.

Since 2014, Wooster’s Garden has been so much more than a place to grab a cocktail – it’s been a second home, a meeting place, a celebration spot, a refuge after long days, and the backdrop to countless memories. Truly my favorite of all our concepts. So many great memories that are very difficult to put into words. I’m getting emotional typing this.

We’ve watched first dates and engagement parties turn into lifelong partnerships, strangers become regulars, and regulars become family. We’ve shared laughs, tears, milestones, cigar nights, and late nights. None of this would have been possible without the community that showed up night after night – your support, stories, and loyalty are what gave this Midtown haven a heartbeat.

Barati tells CultureMap that he and business partner Andy Aweida have leased the space to a new operator who will announce its plans soon. Still, he has some hope that Wooster’s will be revived in the future.

“Our tentative plan is to reopen elsewhere if we can find the right location,” he writes a in a text. “The staff wants to stay together and reopen.”

Opened in 2014 by the Kirby Group, Wooster’s Garden offered a compelling mix of craft cocktails paired with an extensive tap wall of beer and wine along with creative, upscale bar food. Its format and indoor-outdoor design served as a template for a number of the group’s later concepts, including Heights Bier Garten and Bayou Heights Bier Garten.

Closing Wooster’s Garden follows the Kirby Group’s recent decision to shutter Verde Garden, its Mexican-themed bar in Montrose’s Harlow District development. It will be replaced by Exilio Latin Flair, a pan-Latin restaurant from the owners of Bari Ristorante.

cocktails closings wooster's garden