James Beard Award-winning chef Tyson Cole freely admits he never tasted sushi before getting his first job as a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant in Austin, Texas. But once he did, raw fish became his raison d’être. Captivated by Japanese language and culture, Cole swiftly rose to head sushi chef, then trained for more than 10 years in Austin, New York and Tokyo with various sushi masters. Currently, he’s spending a lot of time in Old Town Scottsdale, overseeing the launch of Uchi, the newest iteration of his popular Austin-based Japanese restaurant (uchirestaurants.com). We sat with the chef for some verbal omakase.
Why did you decide to open Uchi in Scottsdale?
To me, Scottsdale is the epitome of a restaurant city and it just makes sense for us to grab the opportunity and open Uchi to see what we can accomplish here. It’s exciting to be part of this restaurant community and to use local products and talent and twist it to see what Scottsdale can provide for us that’s new and exciting. A lot of the best concepts in the country have started in Scottsdale, so I love the idea of being here.
What will set Uchi apart from other sushi restaurants?
The whole idea with Uchi is about the intimacy of the sushi bar experience, where I’m feeding you by the bite, that one-on-one experience, and taking it to the entire restaurant.
How do you introduce novices to sushi?
From the beginning, we’ve tried to make sushi more familiar. If you’re scared of it, we’ll lead you into it, baby steps. You’d be surprised how quickly people will taste it and like it. That’s what we do. It’s food by the bite. Perfect bites.
What makes a quality dining experience for your guests?
Being very thoughtful, very specific and very customized. We’re not going to be fancy and we’re not going to pressure you. Uchi is about comfort, fun, joy and love and the food and culture of the staff. It’s contagious. We’re very casual, but we still have high-end items on the menu. You can wear a T-shirt and shorts or a three-piece suit and spend $50 or a $1,000. That’s Uchi.
Where does your fish come from?
We fly from both coasts and Tokyo and it comes in every other day.
How hard was it to learn Japanese?
Not as hard as you’d think. I worked with (Japanese-speaking people) for 13 years, so it was by default. I had to. When I was working the line, my sensei was speaking Japanese to me so I had to pick it up pretty quickly. I was totally immersed in Japanese and started speaking it often. Then I got into anime and Japanese TV shows.
