hide and seek sushi

New sushi restaurant by Hidden Omakase opens in Rice Village with affordable, 30-minute meals

A new restaurant looks to expand the reputation of one of Houston’s most exclusive sushi restaurants. Sushi by Hidden opens this Monday, December 5 in Rice Village.

As its name implies, Sushi by Hidden is a new concept from Hidden Omakase owners Tuan and Thy Tran. The biggest differences between the two restaurants will be the speed and price of the meal offered. Where Hidden Omakase serves about 15 courses over the course of a couple hours for $175, Sushi by Hidden will offer 12 courses, usually individual pieces of nigiri, in a tidy 30 minutes at a less expensive price point of $60 per person.

Dishes could include Akami (lean bluefin tuna) with chili garlic and Fuji apple, Engawa (flounder fin) with finger lime and marinated ikura (salmon roe), or dry-aged fish. Customers will also have the opportunity to purchase upgrades and supplements that can still be served within the 30 minute time frame.

The restaurant will be led by chef Jimmy Kieu, who has been working alongside Hidden Omakase chef Nikki Vongthong. He and his team will guide diners through the experience and serve each piece individually.

Located in the former Cloud 10 Creamery/The Loop space (5216 Morningside Dr.), Sushi by Hidden will seat 10 guests at a time in an intimate, 1,200-square foot space. The owners worked with Blue Kite Building Group and interior designer Rodrigo “Kico” Tovar with rT3 on a space that includes a NFT art gallery.

For now, Sushi by Hidden will be BYOB will a $20 corkage fee for bottles 720-ml and larger. It opens daily for dinner at 5 pm with lunch service to follow in the weeks to come.

Photo by Jenn Duncan

Get 12 pieces of sushi for $60.

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better than blini

Houston pizzeria unveils indulgent caviar pizza for the holiday season

Courtesy of Pizaro's Pizza

Get the Holiday Decadence pizza through the end of December.

One of Houston’s most well-regarded pizzerias is giving diners a way to splurge this holiday season. For a limited time only, Pizaro’s Pizza is topping one of its Neapolitan-style pies with caviar.

Called the Holiday Decadence, it’s a personal-sized, 8-inch, Neapolitan-style pizza topped simply with Pizaro’s housemade mozzarella cheese and seasoned with a little furikake. Alongside, the restaurant provides diners with lemon zest crème fraîche, a small bottle of prosecco, and a one-ounce jar of paddlefish caviar from Houston’s DR Delicacy. Priced at $59, it’s either an indulgent treat for one person or an extravagant appetizer for two.

Pizaro’s co-owner Nicole Bean tells CultureMap she sees the new pizza as an improvement on the caviar special the restaurant tried two years ago, which used its thicker, Detroit-style pizza.

“This year, we simplified things,” she says. “We made it more affordable. We added more caviar. The feature is the caviar, focusing on having a whole, one-ounce container either for yourself or to share with one other person.”

In this configuration, the pizza crust essentially serves as an oversized blini, with the furikake boosting the caviar’s oceanic flavors. Serving the caviar in the jar allows diners to add as much or as little to the pizza as they want. Introduced last week, Bean says the restaurant hasn’t sold that many caviar pizzas yet, but that doesn’t surprise her.

“People are a little hesitant with it being caviar and the $60 price point,” she says. “It’s not for everybody. It’s for people who are curious and want to try it or really love caviar and want to try it every way they can.”

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The restaurant always uses its monthly specials to experiment beyond familiar toppings like pepperoni and mushroom. Next month, Bean and her brother, co-owner Matt Hutchinson, will present dueling pies — his topped with crispy prosciutto, sautéed onions, and balsamic drizzle and hers a simple tomato pie, anchovies optional but strongly encouraged.

“The fun thing about pizza is you can literally do anything with it,” Bean says. “I want people to try different things on pizza. It can be decadent. It can be upscale. It can be fresh and new.”

The Holiday Decadence is available at both Pizaro’s locations through December 31. Find more details at the Pizaro’s Pizza website.

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