This popular Texas Japanese spot is bringing fancy sushi and fried milk to Wynwood

The first Uchi Japanese restaurant started in a bungalow in Austin, Texas in 2003. Now, it’s coming to Wynwood.

The popular brand, with restaurants in Austin, Dallas, Houston and Denver, was created by the Hai Hospitality group and Chef Tyson Cole, who won a James Beard award for best chef in the Southwest in 2011.

Chef Edward Sura, who worked at Hai Hospitality’s Uchiko in Austin and was a semifinalist for the 2016 James Beard Rising Chef Award, will helm Uchi Miami.

At the 175-seat restaurant, which includes a sushi bar and a wrap-around patio for outdoor dining, you’ll find sushi and sashimi favorites but also specialties like Hirame Usuzukuri (thinly sliced flounder, candied quinoa and olive oil) or Kinoko Usuzukuri (trumpet mushroom, shallot and white ponzu). Maguro & Goat Cheese combines bigeye tuna, goat cheese, apple zu and shiso, while Machi Cure is smoked yellowtail, yuca crisp, Marcona almonds and Asian pear.

Hot dishes include pork belly, wagyu ringo with smoked apple butter, candied garlic and apple kimchi and Sasami Yaki (chicken breast, coconut and cilantro). Signature plates include Japanese pumpkin tempura and the deep-fried Karaage (chicken thigh, sweet chili and pickle) and Brussels sprouts with lemon and chili.

Diners can also try three different omakase tastings: a 10-course Chef’s Tasting, a six-course Signature Tasting and a six-course Vegetarian Tasting.

Desserts include coconut tapioca, banana cake and the intriguing Fried Milk (vanilla custard and salted fudge on a toasted blondie).

You will definitely want to try some of the cocktails using Japanese spirits. The Shiro Ryu combines green tea-infused vodka, coconut, Thai basil, pandan leaf and matcha, while the Subarashi blends Reposado Tequila, sweet potato shochu, mezcal, lime agave, hibiscus and lime leaf. Japanese whisky fans can try the Ten’No, with Japanese whisky, golden syrup, sherry and orange.

The design of Uchi Miami includes an art installation of a a cinder block wall handwoven with rope, a joint collaboration between DRM Custom Masonry, AWN architecture woodworking and Miami artist and sculptor Vas Bets, who hand-wove the rope. There are also murals from Austin-based artist Jana and Joe Swec. To fit in with the neighborhood, Miami artists will eventually create graffiti installations on the outside of the building.

Uchi Miami

Where: 252 NW 25th St., Miami

Opening: January 30, 2021

Hours: 5-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 5 p.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday.

More information: www.uchimiami.com

This story was originally published December 29, 2020 at 11:52 AM.