It’s become a common occurrence across Briana Lin’s six Capital Region restaurants: Regulars often ask her to order for them. Always striving to bring new food experiences to her guests, Lin maintains a trust between her customers that she doesn’t take for granted. Now, that spirit is being taken even further as Lin readies her newest restaurant, Omakase Sushi and Grill, for an October opening.
What is omakase, exactly? Briana brings Saratoga Living up to speed. “So, omakase—you don’t order,” she says. “The chef makes the choice of the fresh ingredients, making it in front of you.” The word omakase is Japanese for “I’ll leave it up to you”—something Lin has been hearing for quite some time now.
Handing over the discretion to the chef invites diners on a culinary journey that is to be savored and experienced fully; the multi-course meal often introduces diners to creative flavor and ingredient combinations that they wouldn’t otherwise have tried. Lin gives a tantalizing example: king salmon sushi with black truffle.
Clearly, this isn’t going to be your average upstate New York sushi restaurant.
An avid traveler and foodie whose family owns restaurants in China, Lin found inspiration for her latest concept during trips to New York City and Japan. “I love food,” she says. “Everywhere I go, I try different food.” Part of the excitement is figuring out how she can bring the spirit of these experiences back home.
“I’m always thinking about how to bring something different to the Albany area,” she says. “All of my restaurants have a different concept.” Omakase Sushi and Grill will be Lin’s seventh greater Capital Region restaurant to date, building on the reputation she has earned from Yang’s Asian Bistro, Kobe Hibachi and T-Swirl Crêpe in Latham; Sawa Sushi Bistro in Glenmont; Volcano Asian BBQ and Hot Pot in Niskayuna; and Azuma Sushi Bistro just down the road in Malta. She even has an eighth restaurant in the works: Prince Tea House, an Asian-European fusion dessert/brunch/afternoon tea franchise that will take over the Hong Kong Bakery & Bistro space on Wolf Road in Albany. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. “This one,” Lin says of restaurant No. 7, “is going to be high-end, upscale sushi.”
While Omakase will certainly be a swanky environment (the former 30 Lake space has been completely remodeled), what truly makes Omakase Sushi and Grill a must-try culinary experience is the carefully selected ingredients themselves.
For all of her restaurants, Lin orders directly from a Japanese food company three times
per week. However, for the upscale Omakase, she’ll be selecting ingredients she hasn’t been able to integrate into in her more casual concepts before. Think: tuna belly and fresh wasabi.
Lin takes pride in being able to bring an all-new experience to the local food scene. “That’s why I keep opening new restaurants,” she says with a laugh. “Customers always tell me, ‘Oh, you should open a sushi restaurant in Saratoga!’ It’s a good opportunity right now. People like to try new things.”
However, Lin isn’t aiming to push anyone fully out of their comfort zone at Omakase—unless that’s what they want. In addition to omakase, her new spot will also have an a la carte sushi menu, as well as a menu of other Asian dishes that folks can order for lunch and dinner, dine-in or takeout, seven days a week. Omakase Sushi and Grill will also have a full bar. While reservations aren’t a hard and fast requirement, Lin recommends making one. And one thing’s for sure: You’re going to want one.