Sushi News
Japanese omakase restaurant headed to Fort Worth's Near Southside
Sushi
A Japanese omakase restaurant — one of the hottest trends in dining right now — is coming to Fort Worth's Near Southside: Called Yoichi, it's a new concept from a trio of accomplished chefs, and it’ll open in the former Shinjuku Station space at 711 W. Magnolia Ave. in late summer.
Shinjuku closed in 2023 after 13 years. Construction on the new restaurant is underway, and the restaurant is scheduled to open in July, according to the owners.
Bringing the concept to Fort Worth are a trio of chefs: Ilwon Suhr, Ian Kim, and Mark Kim. Each most recently worked at Crown Block, the restaurant atop Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas, in different capacities. Suhr also owned Fujiyama, a sushi restaurant in Carrollton, for three years.
Yoichi will offer sushi rolls and omakase-style dining, an approach Ian is familiar with since he worked as a chef at Sushi By Scratch, the omakase restaurant at the Adolphus Hotel in downtown Dallas.
Omakase is a style of dining, primarily at Japanese restaurants, consisting of a defined set of bite-size courses, presented one after another, sometimes at a high price.
Dallas has seen many omakase restaurants open in recent years, but Fort Worth, not so much. The team decided that the trendy area around Magnolia Avenue — home to nearby restaurants such as Cane Rosso, Teddy Wongs, Spice Thai, Wabi House, and more — would make an ideal location.
At Yoichi, the omakase experience will comprise 12 courses: nine main items consisting of sushi and sashimi maki, preceded by two appetizer courses, and ending with a dessert course.
They'll have a full bar with sake, Japanese beer, and whiskey, plus cocktails using Japanese and oriental ingredients.
Ian says that the team's language skills help them get imported ingredients; Suhr speaks fluent Japanese.
“We have no restrictions on sourcing local ingredients and communicating with Japanese vendors,” Ian says. “The chefs also maintain good relationships with local vendors. We will use Texas ingredients and ingredients that the chefs like from Japan and Korea without any restrictions.”
As an FYI, they are no relation to the ramen restaurant of the same name in Haltom City.
"Coincidentally, we found a restaurant with the same name at a similar time and were very surprised," Ian says. "I guess that means they are good names. I hope that the two restaurants with the same name can grow well together."
