Nick Bognar’s award-winning restaurant Sado, which was Sauce Magazine’s No. 3 Best New Restaurant of 2023 and a James Beard Award semifinalist, will open a new omakase concept called Pavilion this spring in the courtyard of Sado at 5201 Shaw Ave. on the Hill in St. Louis.
The custom-built, glass-enclosed Pavilion will evoke Japanese garden vibes and will offer guests a ticketed tasting menu of items that showcase Bognar’s talents with the cuisines of Southeast Asia and Japan in artfully arranged dishes. The multi-course omakase menu also includes a robust dry-aged fish program.
“Pavilion will function as an extension of Sado and create a space that combines the Thai influence of my familial heritage woven into the well-practiced Japanese sushi techniques that I feel most passionate about,” Bognar said in a release. “This will be the most ambitious thing I’ve ever done in terms of creativity and precision, while also using this as a space to experiment. Similar to Sado and Indo, guests will still feel that playful environment with the usual 2000s bops in the background.”
In Japanese, “omakase” means “I leave the details up to you.” It’s “a style of chef-driven dining where the sushi chef meticulously guides and prepares each dish in front of the guest,” according to the release. The fish will be imported from Japan, and each menu will vary based on availability. Guests can expect nigiri and sashimi, along with other dishes inspired by the Thai family recipes of Bognar’s family.
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This article appears in February 2024.