Noted Austin Sushi Chef Is Moving to Chicago

Otto Phan, the chef/owner of essential sushi restaurant Kyoten Sushiko in Mueller, is leaving Austin for Chicago, as reported by Austin 360. He’s going to open a similar seven-seat omakase restaurant somewhere in Chicago’s Logan Square.

Phan said he wanted to move to Chicago because he wants to become “the best sushi chef in the world,” which would be easier in Chicago — ”a Michelin-starred marketplace” — than it was in Austin, as he told the publication.

Phan will serve his last dinner at Kyoten at the end of July. He didn’t name his replacement chef, whom he is currently training, but it will be a male chef who isn’t already overly known in the city.

Phan originally opened Kyoten as a sushi trailer on East 6th Street in 2014. The trailer closed in early 2016 as he focused on opening the brick-and-mortar restaurant in Mueller, which debuted that July with $150 omakase dinner service. The restaurant added a casual lunch service in September 2016, which features boxed-style sushi, rolls, rice bowls, and poke.

Before Kyoten, Phan worked in Nobu and Bar Masa in New York, along with Austin’s Uchi, Imperia, and Kenichi.

• One of Austin’s top sushi chefs leaving for Chicago [Austin 360]
• All Coverage of Kyoten Sushiko [EATX]