Say hey to omakase

Uchi rolls out opening date for cool new omakase counter in Montrose with curated, 15-course menu

Oheya will open next to Uchi.

Uchi Houston/Facebook

The team behind Uchi is ready to unveil its new omakase counter. Hai Hospitality will open Oheya by Uchi on March 20.

First announced last year, Oheya will be located next to Uchi in the former Southside Espresso space in Montrose. Hai Hospitality’s in-house design team has converted the former coffee shop into a 12-seat counter. Diners will find a space the features custom millwork as well as artisan ceramics selected by Uchi’s executive pastry chef Ariana Quan.

Once seated, customers will experience a 15-course tasting menu built around nigiri as well as prepared dishes featuring different vegetables and proteins. What will distinguish the tastings from those already offered in Uchi’s main dining room is that each month’s menu will be curated by a different senior member of Uchi’s culinary team from its restaurants around the country.

First up is Uchi Miami executive sous chef Cristian Canencio. Locally, the menu will be overseen by chef de cuisine Stephen Conklin and head sushi chef Kevin Le.

“Bringing new ideas to traditional food is a defining element of the Uchi experience. We’ve done this through allowing our chefs to challenge the status quo and to continually build on each other's experiences,” Hai CEO Tony Montero said in a statement. “This is why we are thrilled to introduce Oheya’s monthly chef collaboration, as it brings the Hai family together in a new and innovative way. This rotating omakase menu will truly offer Houston a one-of-a-kind dining experience.”

The 15-course meal will cost $175 per person. Beverage pairings are available for an additional $75. Reservations for the two nightly seatings (6 and 8:30 pm) will be released on the 15th of every month for the following month.

Oheya joins a growing number of omakase-focused restaurants around Houston, many of which are staffed by former Uchi chefs. They include Niki Vongthong at Hidden Omakase, Patrick Pham and Daniel Lee of Kokoro and Aiko Sushi, Yoshi Katsuyama of Aya Sushi, and Luis Mercado and Paolo Justo of Neo. Of course, none of them received a “substantial” investment from venture capital firm KSL Partners as Hai Hospitality did in 2020.

Oheya is Hai Hospitality’s fourth restaurant in Houston, joining Uchi, Uchiko in the Galleria area, and Asian smokehouse concept Loro in the Heights. A second location of Loro is expected to open near Rice Village next year.

“We are thrilled to introduce Oheya as our newest restaurant here in Houston, where we’ve received so much support from the community over the years,” Uchi founder and James Beard Award winner Tyson Cole added. “While Oheya is a new concept, guests can still expect to find the delicate balance of elevated food and impeccable service that they’ve come to know and love at our existing restaurants.”

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New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review

Courtesy of ChòpnBlọk

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Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published Tuesday, December 16, the New York Times has awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

Written by chief restaurant critic Tejal Rao, the review touts many of the same qualities that the Times already praised when it included ChòpnBlọk on its list of America’s 50 best restaurants.

Rao writes that she usually avoids restaurants that serve food in bowls, but she’s impressed by the way that chef-owner Ope Amosu has put a West African spin on the concept.

“For inspiration, Ope Amosu looked to the kind of chain restaurants that were built to scale, where flavors are often subdued to appeal to the broadest possible audience, focus-grouped to death. But the delight of ChòpnBlok is in its sure sense of self, its lively, multidimensional cooking and clear, delicious vision for modern food from the Black diaspora,” Rao writes.

She singles out specific dishes, including the Nigerian red stew with short rib, the Black Star bowl with shrimp, and the signature Motherland, made with chicken, greens, and plantains. “It’s utterly simple, but draws you in for more with the mouthwatering twang of not-too-much MSG — an international shortcut to building umami that tends to be used carefully, and layered with other forms,” she writes.

The review also touches on the way Amosu switched the restaurant from counter service to full service — described as “warm, informal, and quick with the jokes” — and his time working at Chipotle to learn the basics of the restaurant operations.

A two-star review is only the latest instance of ChòpnBlọk receiving national attention. In addition to the Times 50 best list, Esquire recently named it one of America’s best new restaurants. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand designation for 2025. Amosu earned a semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

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