Japanese Restaurant Azumi Opens Today in Houston’s River Oaks District | Eater Houston

"I visited the new modern Japanese restaurant from Baltimore-based Atlas Restaurant Group and found it leans heavily into sushi and omakase, sourcing fish from around the world for dishes like a scallop tiradito, hirame (flounder) crudo, and crispy rice topped with spicy tuna or truffle avocado. Under executive chef Timur Fazilov, the menu also goes beyond seafood with items such as wagyu short rib, yakisoba noodles, and signature dishes carried over from the Baltimore flagship—Flaming King Crab roll, miso black cod, fried rice, and chicken gyoza. The beverage program is extensive, with more than 60 sakes, 16 rare bottles of Japanese whiskey, and cocktails like the Origami Angel (shochu, nigori sake, calpico, strawberry, cacao, and lemon) and the refreshing Two Moons (vodka, Midori, elderflower liqueur, cucumber, and yuzu). Baltimore designer Patrick Sutton outfitted the space with warm, natural materials that evoke Tokyo’s dining scene—traditional gray tiles, white oak as a nod to River Oaks, Japanese calligraphy, and silk shoji screens. I attended the June 22 grand opening preview and saw the dining room buzzing; the restaurant seats 80 in the dining room, 11 at the sushi bar, and 20 at the cocktail bar, with chefs breaking down a massive tuna and assembling sushi bites. Azumi’s flagship is in Baltimore’s Four Seasons Hotel, this is its second location, and it’s open for lunch and dinner (11:30 a.m.–10 p.m. Sun–Thu, 11:30 a.m.–midnight Fri–Sat) with happy hour from 3 p.m.–6 p.m.; reservations are available on OpenTable." - Brittany Britto Garley