With their plans for opening Montreal’s first high-end omakase-only restaurant thwarted by lockdown, Okeya Kyujiro chef-owner Takuya Matsuda and chef Hachiro Fujise got started with takeout — offering an array of orizume and bento boxes packed with sushi, sashimi, kaiseki and chirashi. When dine-in returns, they will enact a grander scheme. The reservations-only diners at their wraparound wooden counter (and a handful of tables) will be treated to a 20-course omakase experience ending with a tea ceremony. Every dish — even hot ones — will be prepared in full view behind the bar. The Cirque du Soleil–inspired event will extend to performance art, from sasa-giri (leaf carving for garnish) to calligraphy and live Japanese music.
—Amie Watson