Deep Ellum News

Famed chef to open special omakase-style sushi restaurant in Deep Ellum Dallas

Chef Tatsuya Sekiguchi.

OmakaseNYC

A critically acclaimed sushi chef, most recently of New York City, is coming to Dallas to open a special kind of restaurant: Called Tatsu Dallas, it's an edomae-style restaurant from chef Tatsuya Sekiguchi, opening in the recently renovated Continental Gin Building in Dallas' Deep Ellum.

According to a release, it'll open in winter 2021.

Hailing from the Saitama prefecture of Japan, Sekiguchi — known by his clients as Chef Tatsu — is a fourth-generation sushi master who excels at traditional, Edomae-style sushi. At Tatsu, he'll offer a reasonably-priced omakase sushi experience in an intimate eight-seat setting.

Omakase is when you leave it up to the chef to decide on your order.

Chef Tatsu spent 10 years at New York City institution Sushi Yasuda, where he oversaw a three-star rating from The New York Times and ensured that sushi master Naomichi Yasuda's namesake restaurant maintained its Michelin-star rating after Yasuda returned to Japan.

He most recently did his craft at Omakase Room in New York, which he left in October.

His new restaurant will be located on the first floor of the Continental Gin building, joining tenants Common Desk and Fiction Coffee. In a statement, he says he liked the fact that the building was so old.

"I felt an enormous vibrance from, and connectivity with, the space, and love how the structure has so much character and history," Sekiguchi says. "Four generations of my family have been preparing sushi in Saitama, Japan, which is a little north of Tokyo. I am intrigued to find an establishment in Dallas that has been around since the 1800’s like our family business."

Built in 1888, The Continental Gin Building was once a cotton manufacturing operation, then served as a studio and loft space for Dallas artists. Dallas-based August Real Estate Co. completed an extensive restoration in early 2021.

Since moving to Dallas, Chef Tatsu has already visited some local establishments, including Sushi Rock on Campbell Road, Ichigo Ramen in Deep Ellum, and Cavender's for a cowboy hat and boots.

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Restaurant closure

Beloved Bishop Arts Japanese restaurant Zen Sushi closes after 20 years

Zen Sushi/Facebook

After two decades Zen exits Bishop Arts

From the ever-evolving Bishop Arts District in Dallas comes news of another longtime restaurant closing: Zen Sushi, which served modern Japanese fare at 380 W. 7th St. in Oak Cliff for 20 years, shuttered without fanfare following Halloween dinner.

D Magazine was the first to report the closure.

Zen Sushi owner and chef Michelle Carpenter earned a national reputation after opening the restaurant in 2007. She was Dallas' first female sushi chef, the first woman to own and operate a sushi restaurant in the city, and one of the first to offer vegan sushi, years before plant-based dining became a major trend.

In a 2013 Ask Me Anything (AMA) discussion on Reddit, she also said that she invented the popular caterpillar roll — an eel and cucumber-stuffed roll topped with avocado. In the thread, she defended the less traditional approach, saying:

I have to pay the rent. I try to offer something for everyone, for varying levels and preferences. I personally don't like it, but [salmon and cream cheese] is a best-selling roll. There is place for the Philly Roll. I met the Master Itamae that invented this roll, and he is the much more traditional than I am. But he understood his audience and it took me a while to understand my audience."

Carpenter trained for years in San Diego beginning in the 1980s to become an itamae, or master sushi chef, and helped to pioneer the New American Japanese food movement by integrating Texas flavors into her sushi, rolls, and cuisine, as CultureMap has reported.

In 2023, while still operating Zen, Carpenter opened Restaurant Beatrice in Oak Cliff, taking over a beautifully repurposed old home and drawing on the Cajun side of her ancestry for the menu. Restaurant Beatrice was named a 2023 James Beard Award semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category, just nine months after opening.

In June 2026, Carpenter closed the acclaimed Beatrice primarily because she was suffering a brain tumor. "I can’t do recovery and run Beatrice," she said then. She didn't want to give anything less than 100 percent to her work.

Zen Sushi remained open at that time, CultureMap reported.

In a November 5 story, D Magazine says Zen's closing also is largely related to Carpenter's recovery from brain tumor removal surgery. She is about 80 percent of the way through her recovery, and her condition has improved, according to the magazine. Still, Carpenter opted not to renew her lease this month. She wasn't forced out and could have stayed, but after 20 years, she felt it was a "natural conclusion." She also felt it was better to prioritize her recovery.

And that choice could leave the door open for more culinary achievements. Notes D, "Carpenter has an idea in mind for what she calls a 'legacy' restaurant to open when she is operating at 100 percent ... 'I’ve got one more restaurant in me, and this is beyond Beatrice and Zen.'"

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