A chic new restaurant has opened in North Dallas serving Asian small plates, sushi, and cocktails. Called Onesan, it's the latest from the team behind Republic Texas Tavern and Pizza Gianna, and it opened this week next door to sibling Republic, at 12300 Inwood Rd. #180.
It's located in the former East Hampton Sandwich Shop, which closed during the pandemic.
Onesan is the next-step realization of SevenWoks, a delivery-only concept that originally operated out of Republic's kitchen, says founder John Kinzer.
"We felt like the neighborhood needed a place for Asian food and started the delivery concept during the pandemic," Kinzer says. "Seven Woks had Asian fusion dishes that got an amazing response from the neighborhood, and we used that as a stepping stone."
Their chef is Ray Skradzinski, an East Coast native who worked at Wolfgang Puck restaurants for 15 years, including five years at Five Sixty, the now-closed Asian restaurant in downtown Dallas.
While Seven Woks served as the inspiration, Onesan has a different menu featuring Asian fusion dishes, dim sum, and sushi.
The menu is evolving, but staples include shrimp & lobster shumai, a nubby bite of seafood enclosed in a delicate pasta-like shell, served with a coconut-based curry sauce; siu mai is a Cantonese-style steamed dumpling often served at dim-sum restaurants.
There are two versions of ribs: Korean-style beef ribs and char siu glazed pork ribs, a chef spin on your prototypical Chinese restaurant BBQ ribs.
Their sushi menu consists of a laser-focused selection of niche rolls, rather than a sprawling one-of-everything list, with items such as gunkan maki, a sushi roll wrapped in a sheet of cucumber, filled with salmon, tuna, yellowtail, and avocado; and crispy rice sushi, an irresistible bite featuring a crisp rice base topped with avocado and thinly sliced tuna.
The decor is crazy over-the-top breathtaking with custom murals and statuary. The restaurant features a 60-seat dining room, plus 20-seat bar with sexy subdued lighting, and a dedicated sushi bar that seats eight. The layout cleverly puts the bar in front and the dining room in back, creating smaller contained spaces within.
In front of the restaurant is that post-pandemic must-have, a sprawling patio with 50 seats, both tables and booths, and an indoor-outdoor bar that opens from the front of the restaurant. The space is enclosed by a metal wall with a geometric pattern, and a wall of greenery, neatly trimmed.
Pronounced "Oh-nee-sawn," Onēsan means "big sister" and the name is embodied by a massive mural of a reflective woman against a moody backdrop with Japanese characters and graffiti-style lettering.
"We wanted to create a place to entertain all the senses," Kinzer says.
This is not his first foray into Asian food; he previously partnered with Kent and Tracy Rathbun in Imoto, the pan-Asian restaurant in Victory Park. Prior to that, he was director of Del Frisco's Restaurant Group from 2009-13, and helped in the creation and direction of Del Frisco's Grille.
He's also partnered with Frank Nuccio of Marco's / My Family's Pizza fame in Pizza Gianna, a pizzeria at Lovers and Inwood Road that opened in November 2021.
Onesan is now open for reservations only and will begin taking walk-ins on July 5. Reservations can be made on Open Table or by calling the restaurant at 469-580-6838.
Cucumber sushi, enclosed in a thin sheet of cucumber.
