First Look: Uchiko Adds Fire to Uchi’s Japanese Fare

Uchiko officially opened less than a week ago, but it’s already jampacked for a weeknight dinner service.  As customers file in and find their tables, a hundred staffers are busy on the floor in the front of the house and hustling behind the kitchen counters in the back.

The crowds are partly because Uchiko is in the heart of Cherry Creek, in a remodeled space that for decades was the Ginny Williams Gallery (and still hosts fine work on the walls by local artists), and this area is a major dining destination. But its popularity is also due to the fact that its parent restaurant, Uchi, has built a large and loyal following since opening in RiNo in 2018.

Not long after that, Uchiko was announced, but it’s been a long road to opening. The original plans were submitted before the pandemic and construction was slow because instead of razing the property and building a new space from scratch quickly, Hai Hospitality wanted the continuity of respecting the former gallery’s presence in Cherry Creek and chose to rework its interior.

Both Uchi and Uchiko are part of a growing national brand established by Hai Hospitality, the company owned by James Beard-awarded chef Tyson Cole, who elevated sushi and Japanese cuisine in Austin, Texas, by matching the freshest seafood and local ingredients. Uchi’s growth is on a spurt: It may have taken time to open Denver’s Uchiko, but the Uchi name is now prominent in not just Austin, but Houston and Plano in Texas, as well as Miami Beach and, soon, Bethesda, Maryland.

Uchi means “house” in Japanese, and “Ko” is the affectionate diminutive suffix for a child, so Uchiko is the child of Uchi, where diners can feel like they’re relaxing at home while sampling a variety of dishes inspired by Japanese culinary tradition and modern foodways.

What’s different about Uchiko is that while sushi and omakase are on the menu as they are at Uchi, the central kitchen behind Uchiko’s sushi bar is lit up with flames burning Post Oak, the soul of Texas barbecue. Uchiko brings fire to the plate, with more cooked bites than just the raw stuff. Chef de Cuisine Andres Araujo, who oversees both restaurants, has added hearth-grilled options like Gyutoro (wagyu steak nigiri sushi) and grilled swordfish, as well as a special of the day, beef cheek: a tender chunk of meat coated with a cacao glaze and sesame seeds, served with grilled rapini greens (like a crunchy broccoli) and a gently sweet quince puree on the side.

The sushi is incredibly fresh and not fishy, as if it’s straight from Toyosu Market in Tokyo Bay (not a silly supermarket tray), and expertly dressed and sliced. The maguro tuna, kanpachi amberjack and top-shelf bluefin otoro fatty tuna are all melt-in-your-mouth and worth snarfing with your fingers, flipped upside-down so the quality fish meets your tongue first without the rice falling out. The chirashizushi, or various sashimi laid on top of sushi rice, is a dream assortment that includes tuna, salmon, whitefish, ikura salmon roe and more.

One striking combination here is fish served with fruit, like the Madai Crudo sea bream, which is wrapped around a slightly smoky grilled grape, or the restaurant’s signature Hamachi yellowtail served on top of a mandarin orange slices and a yuzu sauce. “We do a lot of fish and fruit,” says Jack Yoss, chief culinary officer for Hai Hospitality, in Denver to help with the launch of the new restaurant. “Tyson, when he originally started the Uchi concept, started playing around with fish and fruit. It pairs the sweet, sour and salty.”

Uchiko also has a separate vegetarian menu — not just a couple of items with an asterisk. “You should get your own menu, right?” notes Yoss, who acknowledges that vegetarians often feel like they’re outsiders in a restaurant designed for carnivores. “You should feel at home, so we have pretty extensive vegetarian menus.”

And for carnivores looking for lunch, there’s a fin, fat burger with fries for people who still quaver at the thought of raw fish. It’s not a Japanese dish, but it’s topped with slices of daikon radish for a subtle Japanese touch.

Hai Hospitality’s menus are developed over time with feedback from not just customers, but staff. Part of the secret to Uchi and Uchiko’s success, Yoss says, is the company’s partnership with employees of all levels. The management welcomes staff input and everybody gets to participate in tastings, he adds: “Collaboration is one of our core values. Evolution, feedback and collaboration.” As an example, he cites the twenty-year-old prep cook who feels free to tell the Michelin three-star chef that something needs more salt. That freedom to comment and contribute has helped Uchi become a destination for diners, and it’s helping make Uchiko a destination, too.

Eating at Uchiko is an experience, not just a meal. My main takeaway is that the menu is all about balance — a Japanese cultural value — of flavors and textures from smooth to crunchy, soft to hard, sweet to salty, savory to sour. Here’s another takeaway: You can order a to-go meal that’s served in a lovely bento-box style container that’s about as Japanese as you could imagine.

Even the desserts, created by pastry chef Ariana Quant, are purposefully balanced. The special of the day is a sweet potato Okashi, a creamy treat that isn’t too sweet but comes with a thin chocolate wafer and a crunchy mix of black garlic caramel, marcona almonds and – get this – kalamata olives. The dish is heavenly, with an artful balance that keeps the olives from being too strong. There’s also a cheesecake that’s like a thick whipped cream, served with mandarin orange slices, yuzu marmalade and – a blast to any Japanese kid’s childhood memories – iced Calpico drink. This isn’t too sweet, either.

But a meal here is: From beginning to end, Uchiko introduces diners to a modern vision of Japanese cuisine that honors the culture’s traditions while embracing what’s cool and new for today’s open-minded foodies.

Uchiko is open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4 to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, at 299 Fillmore Street. For more information, call 303-444-1922 or go to uchiko.uchirestaurants.com/location/sushi-denver/.