Ten months after joining Umi Modern Japanese’s sushi program as Lead Chef, Chef Kazuo Yoshida will begin featuring his signature omakase each week at M @ Umi, an intimate, eight-seat omakase experience. Open for one 7 p.m. seating each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, beginning in mid-September, the experience will take place upstairs from Umi’s main dining room in Buckhead.
Chef Yoshida will serve around 19 courses at M @ Umi, including otsumami, nigiri, soup and dessert. Chef Yoshida says that practicing Omotenashi hospitality and thoughtful, anticipatory service is of utmost importance to him, as is sourcing the best quality ingredients and fish possible.
The nigiri-centric menu will change based on what inspires the team and features the likes of Smoked Bonito Salad, Madai Sashimi, a comparative Ötoro & Chútoro (fatty & medium fatty tuna) tasting, Wagyu Hand Roll with caviar, Uni Risotto, and Butter-Poached Lobster.
Born in Nagasaki, Japan, Chef Yoshida has been a pioneer of omakase-style restaurants in the U.S. since his arrival to New York City in 1992. After three decades of omakase experience in New York City, where he is affectionately known as the “Uni King,” Chef Yoshida says he hopes to inspire more people to explore the art of true omakase, complete with bold creativity and craftsmanship that define his signature “Kazuo-style.”
Yoshida served as opening chef at Jewel Bako East Village in 2001 and worked in Brooklyn as 1 or 8’s opening chef in 2010 before moving to Miami in 2015, where he helped open MYUMI, Miami’s first omakase sushi truck. Just before moving to Atlanta to join Umi, Chef Yoshida worked at Juku, a popular downtown NYC restaurant he helped open in 2018.
Guests can expect a bright, serene space designed in sharp contrast to the moody space downstairs so that each dish can take center stage. Designed by Design Research Studio (DRS) and Gareth Payne Studio, the 250-square-foot space features globe pendants, an oversized painting on acrylic by the late Atlanta artist Todd Murphy, and white yakisugi walls – an ancient Japanese technique in which charred cedar boards add texture to surfaces.
