Sushi News
Former Kenichi chef adds sushi to the mix at Trinity Groves in Dallas
The latest restaurant at Trinity Groves brings the ultimate in gentrification cuisine: sushi. Called Sushi Bayashi, it opens February 10 and features authentic Japanese food from owner-operator Yuki Hirabayashi, former sushi chef at Kenichi in Victory Park.
The menu includes sushi, sashimi and rolls, as well as chef specials such as Tokyo-style miso ramen, Japanese curries and the braised pork belly dish called buta-kakuni. A Japanese pumpkin appetizer is simmered with ground chicken in soy sauce, sake and mirin; that's a missed vegetarian opportunity, Yuki. There are croquettes made from minced octopus and gyoza dumplings.
There is sake and Japanese wine and beer. Dessert options include unusual treats such as sweet fried udon noodles, red bean and green tea "monaka" ice cream (like an ice cream sandwich), and a wagashi dessert plate.
Hirabayashi grew up in Negishi Asakusa Ueno, a neighborhood in Tokyo. "I want to make Japanese foods that I used to eat in my hometown," he says.
That includes Champon noodles, originally from Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan; there was a Champon noodle restaurant in Hirabayashi's old neighborhood.
The dish was created in the Meiji period, when an owner of a restaurant needed to feed hundreds of Chinese students with varying palates who came to Japan for school. It is made by blending together different dishes to make one filling meal. At Sushi Bayashi, that includes shrimp, scallop, pork belly, crab, mushrooms and fish cake in a pork-and-chicken broth enriched with soy milk.
Hirabayashi says he began talks with Trinity Groves founder Phil Romano about two years ago. "We had the same vision for a casual Japanese restaurant that mimics the kind of restaurant you would find in my hometown with community tables and low prices," he says.
Trinity Groves is the entertainment destination in West Dallas that focuses on startup businesses with a restaurant incubator program. Sushi Bayashi is the 14th. It is open for dinner only, starting at 5 pm; lunch will come later.
