A swanky new Japanese restaurant with locations spanning from West Hollywood to Miami has landed in DC. Uchi was founded in Austin more than two decades ago by James Beard award-winning chef Tyson Cole and will begin serving its popular yellowtail crudo and sweet chili-glazed Brussels sprouts downtown today.<\/p>\n
Leading the kitchen locally is chef de cuisine Rob Drennan, who worked for Uchi\u2019s sister restaurant Uchiko in Austin about 15 years ago. Drennan\u2019s culinary career has taken him from Norway to Hong Kong, but more recently, he was senior culinary manager for the group behind Rose\u2019s Luxury<\/a> and Pineapple & Pearls<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt definitely feels kind of full circle. It almost feels like a homecoming in certain ways,\u201d Drennan says.<\/p>\n Some staples have stuck around since Drennan\u2019s early days with the company, including those crispy fried Brussels sprouts glazed in a fish caramel chili sauce and the hama chili, a yellowtail crudo with ponzu sauce, orange segments, and Thai chilies. The latter has been on the menu since the first Uchi opened in 2003.<\/p>\n The menu features plenty of other raw dishes, from a scallop-and- passionfruit crudo to a wagyu tartare with fried jalapeno. A full sushi list includes the latest imports from Toyosu seafood market in Japan as well as some dry-aged fish options. The menu also includes a variety of grilled skewers, tempura, and classics like karaage, along with a wide range of vegetarian plates.<\/p>\n Drennan has also added his own touches to the menu, including chawanmushi, a silky egg custard dressed with Maryland crab, a bit of bacon, seasonal vegetables, and a dusting of dehydrated crab roe. He\u2019s also introduced a plancha-grilled pork belly served with fermented black bean puree, lychee, and coconut.<\/p>\n Diners can sample all the menu classics with a seven-course \u201csignature tasting\u201d for $120. A more elaborate \u201cchef\u2019s tasting\u201d for $300 to $350 will offer a more personalized, custom experience.<\/p>\n And for those who are looking for something a little more affordable, Uchi has a daily happy hour from 4 to 6 PM with $10 cocktails, $9 wines and sakes, and discounted food. The full cocktail menu ($16 to $21) includes a sake-infused martini and classic Suntory Toki high ball, but also a margarita.<\/p>\n The modern, wood-toned space will have two private dining rooms plus an 18-seat bar and 14-seat sushi counter. The restaurant group\u2019s own design firm, Hai Design Studio, drew inspiration from Edward Durrell Stone, who designed the nearby National Geographic Society in the \u201960s and the \u201cera of martinis and espionage.\u201d<\/p>\n DC is the latest in Uchi\u2019s nationwide expansion push. The restaurant now has 10 locations nationwide, with more coming to Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Newport Beach.<\/p>\n Food Editor<\/p>\n Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind DC\u2019s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Uchi DC. Photograph by Sophie Macaluso. Uchi. 1700 M St., NW. A swanky new Japanese restaurant with locations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-21226","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-japan","8":"tag-japan","9":"tag-japanese"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Uchi-nigiri2.jpg\" "\\"Uchi")
Photograph courtesy Uchi.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Uchi-happy-hour-spread-.jpg\" "\\"Uchi")
Photograph courtesy Uchi.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Uchi-DC-bar-Photo-credit-Sophie-Macaluso.jpg\" "\\"Uchi")
The bar at Uchi. Photograph by Sophie Macaluso.<\/p>\n![\"Jessica](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b518942c65ed8fe10c5376ff6a2a41214efa44a9faa026ff5e189ef96d55c465.jpeg\")
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