Sushi By Bou offering traditional Japanese Omakase meals in West Loop
CHICAGO (CBS) – If you're looking for traditional Japanese sushi, there's a restaurant you might've missed as it's tucked away inside a West Loop hotel.
Sushi By Bou, located inside the Emily Hotel located at 311 N. Morgan St., serves casual Omakase for diners who are looking for that traditional Japanese experience without wanting to spend too much time or money.
"It's not easy to be a sushi chef, but it takes time to practice," said Chef Tarn Pavasutti.
Pavasutti is one of a team of chefs who run the Sushi By Bou locations in hotels around the city. He says, unlike most culinary careers, few of them went to school to receive formal training, instead their path had to be a bit more experiential
"You have to work in the restaurant with a lot of good chefs and then experience, and then you have to keep learning by yourself, because back in the day, like 17 years ago, there's no many like YouTube," Pavasutti said.
Chef Pavasutti studied sushi in between English classes after emigrating from Thailand to the United States back in 2006. At first, it was only supposed to be a side hustle.
"After school, I have a little free time. So, my friend who was working in a sushi restaurant he asked me like, 'Oh, you want to try to be sushi chef?'" Pavasutti said. "It's like my part-time job and then I fall in love with what I'm doing right now, and I keep doing it since I graduate."
Now, at Sushi By Bou, he's tasked with using his nearly decades behind the sushi bar to create an individualized Omakase experience for up to 60 people a night.
"So chefs can make their own special piece, will make guests like really, really happy about like they coming in and want to try something new, and chef will be able to do it," he said.
The restaurant allows him to be artistic in his craft.
"So a chef can be more creative on every single piece for the guests to make them experience," he said. "And then they're going to come back to us."
Pavasutti utilizes a new set of ingredients every couple of days, which are flown in straight from Japan.
"Chicago is kind of the hub of the shipment for ingredients, too," he said. "So most of the fish that fly from around the world to Chicago and then like sometimes it goes to another city."
And they've modeled the experience to fit within an hour-seating time - with a price-point to match.
Their 12-piece Omakase starts at $60 a person, about a fraction of what patrons can usually expect an Omakase dinner to cost them, making this traditional Japanese experience a little more accessible for anyone who wants to try it.
"The goal is we are sushi for people, so everybody can have our sushi and then like it," Pavasutti said.
