Uchi Founding Chef Tyson Cole didn’t grow up eating sushi. Raised in Florida on suburban staples like spaghetti and sandwiches, he first discovered Japanese cuisine after taking a dishwashing job at Austin sushi restaurant Kyoto.

Cole immersed himself in Japanese food, culture and language, working his way from dishwasher to sushi chef before training under Takehiko Fuse at Musashino. Fuse took Cole to Japan, where he deepened his technical skill, ingredient knowledge and understanding of hospitality. Later, staging at restaurants including Manhattan’s Bond Street sharpened his approach to precision and execution.

In 2003, Cole opened Uchi in Austin as Executive Chef and co-owner, blending Japanese tradition with global ingredients to create what he calls the “perfect bite.” His mission was to bring the intimacy of the sushi bar to every table in the restaurant. Uchi quickly became one of Austin’s defining dining destinations and earned national acclaim. Cole was named one of Thực phẩm & Rượu’s Best New Chefs in 2005, received the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2011, and was named a James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Chef in 2016. Uchi was also named one of Chúc ngon miệng’s “Twenty Most Important Restaurants in America” in 2013 and included in Báo cáo của Robb’s “100 Greatest American Restaurants of the 21st Century” in 2025.

Cole went on to open Uchiko in Austin in 2010, release Uchi: The Cookbook in 2011, and launch Uchibā in Dallas and Loro Asian Smokehouse & Bar in Austin in 2018. Today, Hai Hospitality’s concepts span the U.S., with locations in Austin, Houston, Dallas, Denver, Miami, West Hollywood, Scottsdale, Philadelphia, Charlotte and Washington, D.C.

While the accolades continue, Cole is quick to credit his team. “There is no Uchi, no Hai Hospitality in fact, without this team,” he says. “Their talent and ideas have made this collaboration so successful.”

Generously supported by Louis Holzer