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Celebrating the people, passion, and stories behind great hospitality with Tock 10.

Explore Austin
Photograph of Chef Yoshi Okai plating a four-piece omakase dish using chopsticks.
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Photograph of an orange-colored cocktail in a Hawthorne coupe glass with a single large ice cube and a candied cherry on a metal toothpick.

21+ to drink; Please drink responsibly

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Photograph of a plated omakase soft shell crab dish in a bowl placed on a wooden box tray.
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otoko x watertrade

Austin, TX

  • The Firsts

Origin

When Yoshi Okai opened a 12-seat omakase counter in 2016, he was told it was never going to work. Most Americans were not yet familiar with the concept of omakase, or I leave it up to you. But that didn’t stop the Kyoto-born chef, who found his way to Austin by way of Los Angeles as a punk rock musician. Through dishes like charcoal-kissed “BBQ” hamachi, topped with fennel and house soy sauce, Okai was able to win Texans over, honoring both Japanese tradition and local flavors. “Tastes like Texas, maybe?” Okai said, then went on to be named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2017.

Okai continues to craft thoughtful menus featuring Tokyo-style sushi, kaiseki, and hyper-local ingredients. Watertrade, its adjacent cocktail bar, has also earned national recognition for precise cocktails and izakaya-style bar bites.

For the show. Chef Okai previously shared with Austin Monthly that he finds correlations between cooking and music. “While the methods of expression are different, each activity involves creating, performing, and connecting with the people in front of you in an intimate way.”

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