One of the hottest dining trends right now is something that very few people have experienced – locally that is. It’s omakase, a multi-course Japanese meal of surprise, chef-curated courses that highlight fresh ingredients, seasonality and the chef’s creativity.
The only designated omakase restaurant here – 1033 Omakase in Walker’s Point – offers a custom experience to 15 diners at one time. That intimacy is part of omakase’s appeal. (The Japanese term omakase means I leave it up to you – referring to the diner putting their complete confidence in the chef.) Reservations are tough to get. Critics of omakase call it pretentious and overpriced. But there are plenty of diners who feel differently.
Some of those local omakase-ians are fans of what chef Jason Morimoto has been doing off and on at Screaming Tuna Mequon (aka, The Lil’ Tuna). Now Morimoto will realize his long-held dream of operating a restaurant focused specifically on omakase – which is one of the challenges he nailed to win the competitive cooking show “Morimoto’s Sushi Master” earlier this year.
Morimoto’s new restaurant, Nakama, will occupy the former Interval café (1600 N. Jackson St.) and is slated to open in late 2025 or early 2026.
The restaurant name, a Japanese word that means friend or teammate, is an homage to the Screaming Tuna crew. “I feel like that’s what we’re all about with the team that we’ve developed – we’re all working towards one goal,” Morimoto explains. Minority owners in the new restaurant project are Cristian Vega (co-owner of both the Mequon and Milwaukee Screaming Tuna locations), along with Dan Beres and Tripper Duval, the owners of the Bay View bar Lost Whale.
Originally, the partners thought the old Interval space, with its focus-point bar on the small main level and intimate second level/mezzanine was “almost made for an omakase,” Vega says.
The new restaurant’s lower level will be reserved for omakase and will do two seatings per night, with 11 guests at each. It will offer a 14-course menu including starters, sushi and desserts. The upper level – also intimate, with room for up to 14 diners – will be more informal, offering an a la carte menu of hand rolls and small plates.
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The sushi bar will have a “more natural, minimalistic appearance with a very warm and inviting vibe,” Morimoto says.
Diners who’ve been to Morimoto’s pop-ups in Mequon have experienced some of the dishes he made while he was competing on the cooking show – only for a lot of that time, he wasn’t able to explain the story behind them because of secrecy he had to keep before the episodes aired. Many of those dishes will be part of both the omakase menu and the a la carte menu served on Nakama’s upper level.
The dishes Morimoto made on “Sushi Master” are really just a jumping off point for Nakama. “For the elevated bento challenge, I made one of my grandmother-in-law’s dishes,” he says, as an example. “It wasn’t a complete dish on the show, but I will be serving the complete version here.”
Nakama will eventually be Morimoto’s sole focus, which means The Lil’ Tuna in Mequon will evolve, too, carrying on Morimoto’s “legacy of quality. Admittedly the days of super inventive programming that tried to push the envelope of what a food hall vendor could be in Wisconsin” will give way to “a little bit more of normal operations, at least for the foreseeable future, which is fine. We had a ton of fun. We worked really hard,” says Vega.
On the beverage side of Nakama, Beres and Duval – the “full-fledged” consultants for Screaming Tuna’s bar program – will complement the quality level of Morimoto’s food. “It’s going to be really singular, just like the food program, things that can’t be found elsewhere,” says Vega, “much like not just the food but the entire concept.” That means everything from Japanese craft beers and unique sakes to Japanese whiskeys and cocktails “done in really inventive ways, pushing the envelope,” he says. “Everything will be intentionally thought through.”
