Old Thousand Chef Joins Uchi’s Asian Smokehouse

Loro, the impending Asian smokehouse from Uchi’s Tyson Cole and pitmaster Aaron Franklin, added another staffer to its team. James Dumapit, former executive chef of East Side Chinese restaurant Old Thousand, joins the team as the new chef de cuisine.

Dumapit will work with Jack Yoss, who is the corporate chef for Uchi’s parent company Hai Hospitality. Both of chefs are Uchi alum. Dumapit worked under Cole at Uchi as sushi chef and Uchiko as executive sous chef.

The South Lamar restaurant will focus on counter-service smoked and grilled meats (brisket, pork ribs, steaks, fish), Asian-inspired sides (with acidic notes), desserts, beer, and cocktails (tapped beer, wine, and sake, plus sake slushies).

Loro is still pegged to open sometime in early 2018. Cole previously told Eater that this will probably be around February or March.

It looks like Old Thousand’s other original chef David Baek is no longer with the restaurant as well.

• All Coverage of Loro [EATX]