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A James Beard-winning chef will preview his new Philly restaurant with two dinners

James Beard Award-winning chef Tyson Cole is coming to Philly with Uchi, his Texas-based Japanese restaurant. He'll collaborate with chefs Greg Vernick and Randy Rucker on preview dinners next month.

Hama chili, as served at Uchi. The Austin, Texas-based restaurant is opening at 1620 Sansom St.
Hama chili, as served at Uchi. The Austin, Texas-based restaurant is opening at 1620 Sansom St.Read moreShanna Hickman

James Beard Award-winning chef Tyson Cole will open a branch of Uchi, his Austin, Texas-based Japanese restaurant, at 1620 Sansom St. in Center City this November.

For the run-up to Uchi’s local opening — it will be the eighth location for the acclaimed sushi restaurant — Cole will join two Philadelphia chefs for one-night-only preview dinners.

The first will be Oct. 8 at Vernick Fish at the Four Seasons Hotel at the Comcast Technology Center with Greg Vernick, who won the Beard for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic in 2017 at his flagship Vernick Food & Drink in Rittenhouse. A five-course family-style menu, starting with a specialty Uchi cocktail and Vernick Fish’s bread service, will include an oyster platter and crudo, a pasta and octopus course, and signature entrees and desserts created by both teams.

Reservations ($190 per person plus tax and gratuity) are available through Vernick Fish’s website for the dining room and at the bar from 5 to 10 p.m.

The second dinner, on Oct. 22 with James Beard-nominated chef Randy Rucker at River Twice, will be a reunion of sorts: In 2011, Cole and Rucker — then chef-owner at Bootsie’s in Tomball, Texas — were both in the running for the Beard award for Best Chef Southwest. Cole won the category that year.

Details about the Uchi dinner at River Twice will be forthcoming.

Uchi, founded in Austin in 2003, has expanded to Dallas, Houston, Miami, Denver, Scottsdale, and West Hollywood under Cole’s Hai Hospitality group. Uchi takes a modern approach to Japanese dining with a menu offering omakase experiences alongside a la carte dishes such as hama chili (yellowtail sashimi), hirame usuzukuri (flounder with candied quinoa and olive oil), and machi cure (smoked yellowtail with yuca crisp and Marcona almond).

The Philadelphia Uchi, designed by Hai Hospitality’s in-house design studio in collaboration with Zebra and Philadelphia’s Rohe Creative, will feature 165 seats, including a 24-seat bar and sushi bar, a 14-seat outdoor terrace, and an expansive dining room.