Austin Sushi

When you think “sushi” your mind doesn’t immediately go to Austin, Texas. But it will now, because Wells and Tyler are in Austin and today we have chef and owner of Uchi and Uchiko restaurants Tyson Cole!  

Tyson knows everything there is to know about amazing sushi. Everything. From how to order, when to eat it, what to look for and what to avoid. Plus, secrets of wasabi!

And wait until you hear what "food" Tyler once ate. (Warning: you may want to be seated for this one.)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Two Dudes in a Kitchen with Tyler Florence and
Wells Adams, an iHeart radio podcast. All right, time for
another live episode of Two Dudes in the Kitchen Live
from the city that keeps it weird Austin Wells alongside, Hi, everybody.
Tyler Florence here. I love this town me too. This
is a weird thing for me because I, you know,

(00:22):
started my radio career in Nashville as a radio DJ,
and Nashville's moniker was the Music City USA, and Austin's
is live Music City USA. And so what's the diff
I don't know, but there was always some beef between

(00:45):
nash and Austin. Probably I could see that from a
hype standpoint, so like that Midwestern Southern thing. But I
think Austin, Texas, to me is just one of those amazing,
one of one cities on planet Earth that I know.
I've been coming here for years. We've shot Food Network
shows here forever. Our guest today Tyson Cole from Ucci,

(01:05):
who is one of the most incredible chefs and the world.
He had put food on the map here in Austin
in such a big way, and this is one of
my places that I can easily hop off the plane
and decide that I never want to go back home
because Austin means that much to me. The food's fantastic.
The music, it's just like it's like poetry. Like you

(01:27):
go to the Continental Club on South Congress, like a
honky tonk and you hear a band just sort of
open up and play, and that's like raw emotion that
you get in Texas. Right. And the food is fantastic,
the barbecue, the food, seeing the people. They keep it
weird in Austin. I'm glad they do. It's one of
my favorite places over Well. Yeah, if you haven't been
to Austin, you absolutely need to stop by. This place
is ridiculous. Like you said, the food's good, the music's amazing,

(01:50):
and the people are even better. Speaking of the people here,
you just mentioned it, Tyson Cole on two dudes in
the kitchen, Three dudes now in the kitchen. Hell, are
you buddy? Fantastic? How are you doing great? I'm excited
to hear your story. You guys go way back though, Yeah,
we kind of do, man, Yeah, maybe fifteen twenty years
and yeah, and it's just so weird because we've just

(02:10):
been friends, because every time I come to Austin, we
get a chance to you know, I get a chance
to go to Uchi hang out with you for dinner exactly,
and that's how we know each other. It's a matter
of fact. And how long has Uchi been open? He said,
twenty years? From twenty years this year. Congratulations, that's amazing.
It's listen. If it was a hot dog stand the
last of twenty years, I think that would be actacular.
But the fact it's one of the best restaurants in

(02:31):
America that specializes and so such brilliant contemporary sushi. If
you haven't been here, you gotta come. But twenty years,
that's a milestone, my friend. I'm so grateful. I mean,
we could happen I hope only could have happened in Austin, Texas.
I mean, this this city is is amazing. It supports
local and innovation happens here and the talent's moving here
to now as well. And so it's just incredible what

(02:53):
Austin can do short term, long term to create amazing
things that since before, tell us your Genesis story because
I was reading some back. That's a big word genesis. Yeah, Well,
I love the band too. Yeah, but no, like, how
did you get into cooking and creating curating sushi? Um?

(03:14):
He went the quick version, not went the long one. Damn,
it's a good story. So I got a job at
a college, a Japanese restaurant and it was dead poor
and I worked there our waiting tables, washing dishes in
the kitchen as well. And where was this here in Austin, Okay?
And I fell love with the people in the sushi,
in the hospitality and or a short term, I just

(03:37):
it was this situation where every day I watched them
make food, watched them make sushi, ate the food they
fed me, and I knew that's when I wanted to
do it for most life. And it just one step,
one thing after another eventually fends the chefs. And then
they were teaching me how to make things in the kitchen,
and then I said, I said, what about sushi? Can

(03:58):
I make sushi? I was in the kitchen and then
to Chinese guys that worked there. It was a lot
of Japanese staff. They went out to Tokyo and they're
just for somebody had worked lunch time, and so I
did that and then eventually my tip jar a sushi
bar was full of every lunch shit. Really, they said,
why don't you work dinner too, and so I were
worth lunch and dinner. And then I really fell in
love with it. And I fell in love with again

(04:19):
the sushi part of it. And I was artists before that,
very creative person, and I just loved using a knife
and creating things and bites and feeding people and interaction
part of it. And I knew that was going to
do what I was going to do the rest of
my life. I know that like cooking, just from watching
you and other chefs, and also as a radio host,

(04:39):
I used to have a lot of chefs on it,
and I always remembered thinking that the difference between chefs
and musicians were negligible. What type of art did you
create before you started making the art of sushi? I
was a painter, okay, and it was challenging because I
was so expensive and I couldn't sell paintings and I
was a getting dead broke. Yeah. But the miracle is

(05:01):
that making sushi specifically, is that you get more chances.
You get to make these bites, you get to create
these dishes, create these things from people or in front
of you get immediate reactions, and so I could talk
to people, feed them by the bite, you know, if
they're like or not, and it would register what was good,
what wasn't, and how can make it better. Yeah, and
as opposed to a chef in the kitchen didn't see
the customer all. Yeah, just being a sushi chef I

(05:24):
had had I had a one step ad shut in
the kitchen to me. What I love about your story
is that you found one moment in your life that
was a lightbulb moment where the career really chose you. Yeah,
versus you saying I really want to be a sushi
chef because you didn't realize what you want to do.
You just needed a job, right, and you kind of

(05:45):
found this artistic outlet. Yeah, that really kind of felt
the stuff because like like sushi is art oh absolute
you know. On the thing is that that whole thing
with that is that the miracle of it, the blessing
of it, is that sushi in particular is something that's
it's crevable and I could be creative and I could
source the best fish in the world to make these
bites of sushi for people and get better by the bite,

(06:06):
learn more and then over time, not even them, but
sushi is actually a good business model too, so I
can actually have great staff and teach people and get
better with the staff systems, operations and stuff. So it
just improved over time that it be opened. With sushi,
you've got nowhere to hide. And this is what I
really appreciate about it from an artistic standpoint, and and

(06:30):
and the high art of culinary endeavor, because there's three things. Right,
there's the fish, and which is the quality in the
cut and then there's the rice, right, and then there's
whatever you want to serve with that. Let's just say
it's like either a little small you know, like tiny
pinchable sabi, or it's a beautiful element over top of that.
But that's that's just pretty much three elements. And that's
all you get. Yeah, in a perfect world. Absolutely, So

(06:53):
tell me, you know you're absolutely best favorite bit of
sushi and what makes it so perfect and your idea,
like if you have a perfect bite of sushi the
three things. My best bite of sushi in the world
is called tutor. It's medium batty tuna. It's the best
piece of a cut off a tuna boofin tuna. And
when it's done well, that bite is it's it changes lives.

(07:16):
That bite is something that you each close your eyes
and you go, wait, we'll get that way. What makes
that cut a tuna? The best mm over time is
a sushi chef, you learn how to break down a
whole tuna. And that part of the toro is the
texture where it's not too fatty, like, go toro is
really fatty, a little bit too much for some people.

(07:37):
Two toro is like the perfect amount of fat to
lean tuna. Right. So again, that bite is a perfect
bite with the warm rice that together it's it's life changing,
its bridge Oh yeah for sure, right okay, and then
then what else? So walk me through the couple different elements,
because it's where I think it's really interesting. Right. So
sushi rice, because like sometimes you'll have an amazing sushi
and the rice kind of feels like a laugh for
whatever reason, either the timperature or the season it kind

(07:59):
of goes along with that or how long they cooked
it for it's either under over or whatever. But so,
so walk me through the three elements or two elements
wherever you describe it of what makes a perfect niki sushi? Well,
I mean end of the day. Sushi sou means vinegar,
she means rice. So sushi is about the rice, and
so we have to sport the best possible rice you
can get Japanese rice. It's how you treat it, how

(08:22):
you wash it, and how you cook it. And sushi
rice is actually folded with vinegar as well and sugar.
And that rice is held at temperature where it's a
warm and when it's perfect, it's not sticky. It just
holds together. So it's not sticky rice per se with
people think is and that's not right. So that perfect
bite of sushi is the rice and the rice is paramount.
There's a body temperture the rice or less about the same, yea,

(08:44):
this is where this gets about the same. Yeah, because
you know when the rice is just warm yet warm,
the fish is called that bite. Nothing compared to that,
especially if you get like a really beautiful, like medium
fatty tuna. Yeah, exactly, it's it's it's spectacular. I totally
that was the butt of the bite when I first
my first since they taught me, we give it to
me like under the counter to kind of commnce me
a sushi chef like heat to eat this, and I

(09:06):
was like, that's so good and so um. Going from
that to become a sushi chef, you know, we opened Ucci,
you know three. The thinking was if I can, if
I can somehow replicate that experience at the sushi counter
to have seen a whole restaurant and to have that
warm bite of sushi with a warm rice to all

(09:26):
hundred and twenty seats or whatever. So how do years ago,
I mean that's twenty years gone by, Yeah, how are
you able to create that for a bigger restaurant? People
training talent and having operations that you know how to
do that? Going in this thinking of a staff that's

(09:47):
all into a point where they want to be the best.
And once you have that, it gets easier because they
control it and they want to be the best. Every
day they get the best product, make the best of everything,
and so service wise, cooking wise, that's kitchen wise, that's
all connected. You can open restaurants if you can do that. Yeah,
that's about people in the talent, right, I mean, I'm

(10:08):
seeing you're talking you right now. I can't express you
how blessed I feel where rat within my company today
because of the people. When I think of going to
sushi restaurants with a bunch of my friends. It's it's
a the vibe that we always take into its family style.
So everyone kind of orders different things, and everyone kind
of tries different things. But I've always wondered, what is

(10:30):
what are like three or four things that you should
always be ordering for like a big group of people
when it comes to like a good order at a
sushi restaurant. Um, great question. You know. The main thing
about that is the sushi's nemesis is action oxygen. Okay,
So don't or a bunch of sushi at once because
it's gonna sit there really Yeah yeah, order incrementally, like

(10:51):
a little bit at a time, because ideally from that
chef's hands to your mouth, that timing is the best light.
Yeah right, it's kind of what we do, it is
she you know. So don't go to stay and order
like all these fifteen different pieces because you go to
somewhere like no, for example, you're being on one platter
like fifteen or twenty pieces. It's not ideal. Yeah right,

(11:11):
so taste good, but to me it's not perfect. Okay,
So then so we all sit down, we order a
couple of beers or something. First thing we order is
what do you suggest sashimi order like a sash wife
sashimi sashimi? Yeah, something like that. It's being clean light,
dust tastes cold. See. I feel like this is something
that I wouldn't know. I don't know to do. I

(11:33):
think this is great, right, and so how often do
you get a chance to kind of um curate your dream? Men?
You walk into a sushi restaurant with one of the
best sushi chefs in America right now, I think this
is well, there's always one guy who takes over like this. Yeah. Yeah,
one I talked to Tyson. He told me that we
need to start with sashimi. That guy's my enemy, he

(11:56):
roll guy. Yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of there's a
lot of femininity about sushi, you know what I'm saying. Yeah,
that's finesse. Like you can't be that aggressive or everything
at once. It's not how you do it. Yeah, especially
like like some of the stuff to me kind of
feels feels a little childish in a way, but it's
like the childish in a good way. It's like the
reason you like macaroni and cheese, or the reason like
a like like sometimes it can be just like delicious,

(12:17):
but not not particularly sophisticated, but just like really really great,
and sometimes they call it like roadhouse sushi, like it's
good sometimes, especially if you get like takeout the takeout world, right,
especially like where we live, Like there's a couple of
places that have like good sushi, and there's one or
two places that are phenomenal. When did you know that
you were really good? When did you know that? Because

(12:39):
if you start off at a sushi restaurant, right, and
you start you know, you're doing it behind the counter,
and then all of a sudden, you start to kind
of your own particular journey because your food is not
I would say, traditionally Japanese. I think it's rooted in
a lot of like very traditional Japanese exactly right. But
but then but then it feels like an evolutionary brand
exactly right. Yeah, I mean it's question. I think that

(13:01):
in the first three or four years of UCCI, you know,
my goal was the people and getting getting the place
to stay open, the doors open, you know, But it
hit a point where I learned from where I learned
from my senses of I wanted to share what I
loved about sushi with it the whole world. And to
do that, I took sushi, integrated new ingredients. I integrated

(13:26):
food and fresh other ingredients, actuals and things, and so
these bites that were not just raw fish but something
with it, so you would try it, right, so it's
not so scary, not so foreign, or here's a off fish,
but it's with this with peaches, with an apple or
some goat whatever. And people would eat that and they'd
be like, oh, I never had a sushi like this before.
Once I started happening, I knew I was onto something.

(13:47):
I knew that we were going to do pretty well.
I remember one time we went and the fact you
just said two thousand and three, because now I'm like
these like waves of trips to Austin and I never
come to Austin without going to Ucci ever, right, thank you,
And this time you're coming to us, which we're which
we're filled Umvember. One time in particularly, you're you're walking
around with a bottle of sake that you had just

(14:08):
simply infused a fresh cranberries, right, and then you were
just like porn shots for a long time ago, you
know I'm talking about Yeah, And and I do too,
and it's like so that like it literally my favorite
sushi experiences ever in America have happened at Uchi because
every time I get it's like it's like it's like
it's like exactly, it's the sushi experience that you want,
but then it takes it to another direction. Thank you.

(14:30):
That's so unexpected and so unbelievably clever. Thank you. And
the presentations were spectacular and the flavors is so incredibly clean,
and and I think that like that has to just
feel good to know that you've you've kind of hit
this this mammoth mark in your life, right, thank you
for twenty years. Yeah, I mean again, it's I feel
blessed because it's all about the people that we've had

(14:52):
over twenty years. And and you said, that's really clote
to say that, but it's all about you know, going in.
My point of view was you only get one chance
at this, and so why not go in trying to
be the best. Why not go in and kick ass?
Why not go in and really pushed so hard that

(15:12):
it should be the best rush on the world. Right.
My partner was like, we can't do that, we can't
say it be the best one, Like, yes, we can get,
we can why the best, we can be the best,
right And I think that that's contagious when you talk
like that, and over time it becomes the best. And
watching that happen over twenty years, I'm just so grateful
and but yeah, it's so a filling and my people

(15:35):
are amazing and I'm very I cannot say enough when
it comes to your sushi in comparison to other big
sushi restaurants, What makes you guys different than everybody else?
M I think what we do combine with the experience,
the service model, and the sushi itself, how it's how

(15:58):
it's served ingredient. But the main answer is, you know,
in the beginning of Ucci, I had this this thing
I had I wanted to base everything on generosity, and
so as a sushi chef with an the counter, if
you're saying fun of me, I'm feeling you things. At
one point in meal, I'm gonna give you something you

(16:18):
never tried for for free. Here try this. When I
did that, your eyes are light up. And we thought
if we could do that for everybody in the whole restaurant,
that would be something that Whales does To answer a
question mainly that is that giving its food away, being
generous and not a little bit, but a lot of
food we I think called way food. If you're waiting restaurant, Ucci,

(16:40):
we give you food. Wait are you waiting for free?
It's like bread, yeah, but better better, And I mean
the day for food costs. It's expensive, but it turns
a product. I'm trying to get rid all the fish
that day, so it's trying to sell it anyways, right,
and so that maybe that's a bit diffentuator. It's just
the generosity part of that what Ducci does, that's awesome.

(17:01):
Thank you. I never imagine this is like the dumb
radio guy question for you. But I want to know.
I like to put a bunch of a sabi in
my soy sauce. Is that bad to do? If I'm
having like really good look at what his pupils are dilating,

(17:25):
He's like, what the I'm gonna be a nice guy here,
I'm not. I'm gonna trash you right now, every man. Yes,
that's a question that i'd like to have. That's great. Yeah, Um,
most of the sabby restaurants is in a shabbi. Okay,
it's not real a shabby it's mustard, that's queen and
so you can hit straight up like that or you

(17:45):
gonna see your soy sauce with it. But my thing
is the shi chef point of view. If you put
on the fish, you're killing the finger of the fish. Okay,
so please don't do that. You know, the chef puts
on sabby once too if he has to. You know,
rosabby is a root, right, it's sweet actually not that spicy,
and to come bacteria. That's a what Sabbie's for originally.

(18:06):
So sushi, a little dab on the sushi for you
if the fish requires it, right, But not the American way,
like you're just swigging out where it's Americans have this
obsession with dipping and mixing, and you know what I mean,
they take the sabby, mix this slurry of soy slash
together and they'll take the piece and sit in the
bowl and that it's so Hm not a fan of

(18:30):
Sabih Ginger, I'm not a fan of other than she's
so don't put it all on there. They'll put everything
on it. She's I'm telling all like the garnish that
you kind of get on the you know, a presentation
with sushi um. Like, I really I don't really use
with sabi for anything, and I really don't like pickled ginger.
Those flavors are just so like a stringing and rough

(18:50):
because there's there's like subtlety. It's like there's a ghostly
whispered to delicious sushi that I really I hunt for
the nuances and the rice, which I think are really
really really special. No, let's just because we were talking
about rice a second ago, um, And so I kind
of want to jump back then in that for a second,
because I think the mechanics of putting this together, the
ceremony of you know, it's not just rice, it's the

(19:13):
quality of rice. So walk everybody through that, right. So
when so when you get a perfectly like sculpt the
piece of the gierri sushi and thin gets dropped in
front of you. Yeah, like tell me the behind the
scene stuff of what the question? Yeah? The rights is
so um it takes years. Is your chef to train
how to make a piece of sushi um in a
perfect world training sushi chef, it takes ten years. And

(19:35):
so with that training, you're using the rice out of it.
It's in a bind that you're using grabbing the rice
from So you're grabbing the rice with your right hand
and form met with your left hand into these bits
with the fish together to where um, you actually put
your thumb through the piece of rice you're making it.
And so it's very very finite, very feminine, very just

(19:59):
beautifu to make this piece like that, right, A few
people do it like that anymore. It's all machines and robotics,
and you know there's dongos he's the rice premey and
that kind of stuff that's not high end perfect sishi.
So so let's let's talk about like the rice itself,
like where do you get it from? You know, like
what do you what are your first steps with the
whole process. And then because I just think that that's

(20:22):
just so fascinme because literally, other than that, you your
big choices like where do you get the fish from?
And how well king you butcher it? So it's really
the rice makes all the difference in the world. Yeah,
we use Jaminese rice called Kushiki rice. Um it's from Tokyo.
Um different there's different crops per the year round the year,
um and you can fresh as possible, just like saki
went pretty fresh um. It's also it's about the type

(20:45):
of water you cook it with. Do they make it sagi?
Same thing, and the temperature of the water. And then
I held it. And there's so many steps along the
process and making perfect rice and holding and keepy hit
and starting it. It's very very specific. You know, it's
hard to make it perfect to challenging, but we try.
But otherwise, I gotta say, I'm a fan of all

(21:06):
kinds of sushi. I'm just grateful for it, you know
what I mean that pizza getting people to eat sushi,
because also she's great. It's not the best like we're
trying to do, but it's still delicious, still addictive. You know, crazy,
you crave it. It's you Crazy's the one cuisine Crazy
a desert island and they couldn't have anything else the
rest of my life. It's sushi. Yeah, thank you forever.

(21:27):
That's my jam. I absolutely love it and I crave it.
I gotta have it once a week. Well, if you wanted,
azaeland you'd be in luck because it probably just be
a lot of fish, not so much exactly exactly right,
but exactly Okay. So so you're traveling, right, so so
your sushi is my favorite. What's your favorite, like anywhere
in the world, in the world, Yeah, um, New York

(21:47):
City or Tokyo for sure, that's what the talent is. Yeah,
you know, I tried to work in New York City
for a while. It's called Bond Street. Yeah. Yeah. I
went up there and I was like, oh my god,
I'm not even closed as good. I left pretty quickly. Yeah,
I was. I was. I was speechless. I went up
there with some confidence and some knives and there in

(22:08):
Brooklyn and taking a train and within weeks and I'm like,
I cannot do this. They were killing me and so
God blessing this. Guys. Think I left Tookie by Austin,
you know, because that's that's the New York City is
the best of everything, you know, sushi included it. I
think that there's amazing sushi in New York City. Oh yeah,
for sure, sure because the talents there. Yeah, legitimate badass

(22:32):
sushis have been doing it for years and years and
just like, oh my gosh, I We'll watch him sick
and just watch them, you know. Nine thousand and three,
right going back when you opened up Ucci, Like, tell
me about what the food scene in the city was like,
because it's very different today. Uh, it was just starting out.
I mean we were up to Ucci, it's south of

(22:52):
Riverboard knew it was down there, it was. I mean
even the city today compared to then is it's like
a chopless Now it's a tiny Lets see, it's like
keep Austina weird. You know it still is, but it's
just going into a different city. And back then it
was all about barbecue and Texas food and you know

(23:13):
a lot of tex mex a lot of Mexican, a
lot of delicious food, but nothing like there is in
Austin today. And I'm glad it's become more of a
Cosapolitan city kind of was there sushi and awesome before? You? Oh?
Not much, just a little bit, just a little bit, right,
not much. Not a big Japanese population here. Do you

(23:34):
infuse like what Austin is really known for in your sushi? Like,
is there a barbecue role or he has he has
a whole fusion restaurant with Yeah, well you have another
restaurant called Lauro here in Austin, salphomore it's a basically
Asian smokehouse. Yeah, so it's kind of taking this idea

(23:55):
of barbecue and making had Asian tweek on it. So
he just had this fascination with barbecue and how it is.
I'll just meet me meet and with like kind of
crapy sides, And I thought, couldn't we do barbecue like
with sides that were delicious, that were like like a
little cleaner and acidic and delicious and just change the game.

(24:17):
Yeah kind of thing. And so I got to be
part of, say, Aaron Franklin, who's probably the best master
in the entire world, and I'm grate for that, and
he's amazing, and that partnership is blossom so well, and
Laura was killing it now and it's amazing to even
my girlfriends did Actually I love his barbecue. Yeah, is
so good. Laura's really great. Um so is Franklin barbecue. Yeah,

(24:38):
he's such a has such a depth touch of that.
And I really love um um Aaron because of how
generous he is with his knowledge. Yeah, like he'll literally
walk you through every single piece of it. So many
great YouTube videos, this whole masterclass series, which is phenomenal,
Like there's so much to learn and he's like, it's
a brisket, it's salt it's pepper, it's meat. Yeah, it's time,

(25:01):
and then like good luck actually pulling it off totally. Um.
But but he's so generous with his knowledge. I agree.
And that's ten too about comparing sushi with with a
pitmaster and barbecue. So his ten thousand hours of being
a pitmaster and smoking was mine ten thousand hours of
making sushi. You know, all both people making these propert bites.
You know, it's just I have a lot of respect

(25:22):
for him because he did that as a pitmaster, and
I can only imagine that sleepless nights he had to
do to do that. Yeah, damn, Like that's a lot
of smoking meat. You know, I have so much respect
for him. He's so talented. What do you think next
for sushi? Like, what is the next big innovation that's
going to happen in the sushi world that's gonna change

(25:42):
everybody's What about like like like lab grown fish and
that that kind of stuff. Yeah, I mean sustainability for sure, Um,
socing the white fish to sell, that's that you can
to always forever. That's made the main thing. But I
think also, you know, after getting through COVID and we
kind of pivoted and started doing a bunch of takeout sushi,

(26:03):
but it wouldn't have been prior. But I couldn't find
out traveling pretty well. And I think that with sushi,
with great packaging, great products, you can start to see
models that are going to do it, um more delivery,
that kind of thing. If it's the travel is pretty
well that kind of thing, you know, like a sugarfish model.
But only to go kind of situation because otherwise I

(26:24):
can say high end because that's Highend's kind of been doing.
We're doing that, but there might be a future for
it for more people to try it. Yeah, you know
sushi food truck Yeah possibly, yeah wey not right, yeah,
possibly for sure, you know, and I mean Great Food
Truck Race. Yeah we we just we just robbed the
Great Food Truck Race, like last week in Los Angeles.

(26:46):
By the way, we gave we gave this one. I
can't say who, but we gave us one seen fifty
thousand bucks. We totally deserved it. But it was fun.
Season sixteen sixteen, Yeah, for fourteen years, we've shot two seasons.
Here are two episodes on two previous seasons here and
also sixteen h crazy, right, that's so incredible. I can
now drive its own food truck. It can Oh my god,
it's finally got a driver's license. Yesol, right, but yeah,

(27:09):
but we we've been here so many times. I've had
so many great experiences. I've brought so many of my
chef friends from all over the country here and had
such like so many like spectacular experiences. And your team
is so just gracious, and you were just so generous
and and and so like. Uh and Ucci is not
just in Austin anymore. You have quite a few of

(27:31):
them now, right. Yeah, we're in five season now, um
in Texas. He's in Dallas and Austin. Also we have
them in um Denver and Miami and coming here soon
this next this year also in Scottsdale in Los Angeles. Right,
And we are so stoked. How my team is so stoked.
Good for you, my friend. You know, I never imagined

(27:51):
like La, like California. It's a dream. Counci Is that
is that a particular feather in your captain in Los Angeles? Yeah,
I mean it's a big splash for sure, you know,
to go out there and even attempt that, But I
think we have the confidence to pull it off and
I think we'll do really well there because I think
maybe we're branded a little bit. I think people might

(28:12):
know us somewhat. So, but my team, we're gonna pick
people to go out there and open it that are competent,
and I'm sure that it'll flourish out there and they'll
have a great time. That's the great thing about doing
one concept right because you know, with Miller and lux
Or Restaurants San Francisco, we have free of it that
we have San Francisco, we have Hawaii, and we have Vail. Yeah,
and all of our chefs they grow up through our

(28:33):
culture in San Francisco and then we send them out
and it's the same innuare with us. So we're all good.
You know, it's the same thing over and there again.
So we when we kind of bounced around to tighten
up the screws. Yeah, that's kind of like my job
is should keep the brand tight. We roll around, Um,
we're tweaking everything. We're not starting from scratch. Well, I mean,
end of the day, the keyword is consistency. Right. If
you can do that, you might be succeed If not,

(28:54):
if you can't be consistent, people won't come back. Yeah,
for sure, buried it was a good this time, wasn't next?
Or it's really good, it's really good and awesome, not
so good wherever, right, I mean, so it's got to
be fantastic everywhere exactly, gotta be the same. It's gotta
be the same, exactly exactly, just like the same, just
like McDonald's. Man, it's like everything all that. That's consistency

(29:16):
across the board. Yeah, and people talk about them, but
they're that there's many questions for a reason. Yeah, they
do a good job at that. Yeah, doing the same
thing every time. I have more stupid sushi questions. Okay,
um are roles like not really a thing in like Japan,

(29:37):
because I feel like shashimi and nagiri is like kind
of every time I see any footage from over there,
it seemed like that's what they're eating. So is this
like a totally americanized thing? Um roles Like you see
here their vie on the outside. Those are Americanized roles. Okay,
they're called were a mokyum roles see it outside more
Japanese like a techamki. But yeah, Japanese people independon a

(29:59):
lot of sushi roles too. They don't. Yeah a lot, okay,
And for me specifically, it's a great type of role
is because it's a format to use the product. You
put more fish in a roll and cut it in
six pieces and people, and it's kind of an introduction
the segue into trying sushi, Like your initial bite of
sushi is not too scary. It's inside a role. Yeah

(30:19):
what I'm saying. I love that. Yeah. Uh, kids too.
I'm a bartender, so, like booze, pairing with food is
like important to me. What do you think goes best
with sushi? When it comes to alcoholic beverages, it's like, yeah,
and never chilled sake, chill for sure, okay? Very and beer,

(30:40):
oh beer for sure? Yeah, right, for sure. Yeah those
are delicious. Maybe some whisky, maybe some whisky, yeah yeah yeah,
Japanese do great, great whiskies. Really, if if you had
a paraple wine with with sushi, what would you go with?
Something really clean and white and crisp, like a really
nice yeah sure, panu gree something like cold lovely high cold, right,

(31:03):
really cold up until you That's why sake wins everytime, right,
and now, like Saki's a whole podcast by itself, right,
you like sake, like to me like that because it's
relatively simple the idea of it, right, it's it's a
fortified wine made with fermented rice. But then it's a
spectrum of artisans that are making just unbelievably like different characteristic,

(31:26):
different styles, different flavor profiles. And I think all of
that's just totally fascinating as somebody who owns liquor licenses
in the state of California, and it's pretty consistent with
blue laws everywhere, Like we can make wine and distribute it,
but we can't sell We can only sell it in
two of our properties because we considered to quote unquote
tasting rooms. Wow, but I think you could actually make
sake because it's all alcohol by volume. Like we couldn't

(31:49):
make a whiskey because we've tried a couple of times
and then shut down. Um, but we want to make
a bourbon. We want to make like a like a
dirty vodka, like a Miller Luck's dirty vodka. Like it's
like the world's greatest dirty martini already in a model
it could be kind of fun. Um, But yeah, I
think that's all real kind of fun stuff that's you know,
wide open, that's kind like that, especially in the genre. Yeah,

(32:11):
for sure, because it's good. We just make so much sense.
For sure, if you came up with amazing sock. But
but other other chefs, like more Emoti has got you know,
great great sake. Nobody is good great sake. Right, Yeah,
have you done a sack before? I'm sure that eventually
Hi will do a sake. Okay, sure that's yours. I'd
love to see that. Okay, we haven't yet, but I'll
hope you do it. Do you have like a brand
sake that you've done and produced and made. Nope, you should, Manela,

(32:33):
you gotta do that. Yeah, really on my team, on
our team, yeah, you know, if they want to do it,
we'll do it. You know, our talent decides all the
things we do. Yeah. So six of my friends come
into a restaurant and a sushi restaurant. We sit down,
We say, okay, we're gonna get sushimi for the table.
Do I order a beer first, or sake first? Or

(32:57):
Japanese whiskey first. That's like a Japanese businessman order all
three all the same? No, no, kid, I'm kidding you. First, Okay,
do you start with sake and then go to beer
and you close out with some whiskey. Yeah, okay, I'm
learning so much about like how to go to what
do you order when? When you order? When you when

(33:19):
you go to sushi restaurant in Los Angeles, what do
you were? I order, uh, shashimi usually that usually a tuna.
And I'm gonna sound stupid probably right now, but I'll
do that, and then I like, um, I really like
salmon nagiri, really like salmon. It's like really fatty, have
a fatty kid at a heart. And then I'll do

(33:42):
like I always like a spicy roll. This is like
the very very americanized order, but like I like something
that's got like halapenos or something like spicy tunas. I
love all that. Yeah, Like I'll take like a chili
heat over a was sabi heat any day the way. Great. Yeah, yeah,
it's me Like I love those combinations like you the
like No Bo's famous yellow tell with a slice of

(34:03):
serrano and the beautiful you know, like ponzo sauce and
kind of purfa top. That's an iconic dish and it's
like three things and so clean. What is your order? God?
My order? Um? You know I I I love omakasa, right,
so to me, like I'll sit at the counter and
I literally just give myself over to sushi chef because
I love that experience of just of just having their

(34:24):
interpretation what a good time would possibly be. Um. Um,
we just went to Matzahisu in in La, which is
one of my favorite restaurants. So good, so good, and
that one's been around for thirty years. That was No
Bo's very very first restaurants and and and it's still
there and it's and it's so like low key compared
to No Boo London and Noboo you know Wall Street

(34:46):
and whatever. It's like it's so low key and so Hollywood,
right yeah. And then um, and we we just I
think my my fifteen year old son, he came to
La and that's kind of r JM. We go there
every time and we just sat there to the sushi
bar and we just like gave ourselves over and it
was just like one amazing bite after the other. But
I think my favorite is Uni. And then and then

(35:07):
there was a and we had like three different courses
of Uni, and one was one was Mendocino, right, one
was Santa Barbara, and then one was jap from Japan,
which one is the best? Um? Well, well, I thought
the the the the mendocino I thought was was I
had that blend between the texture in the sugar, which

(35:28):
I thought was really nice. I thought the Santa Barbara
stuff tasted like nickels. I didn't really like that very much,
was okay? Right? Um? And I really really love the
ocean quality of the Japanese Uni, which I thought was
just amazing. And UNI's not for everybody, like we're talking
to like, this is like deep cuts, right, you gotta
really like sushi to be an Uni. And that's my favorite.
Uni is one of my favorite bites in the world. Right,
It's it's like ocean butter. It's just so incredibly delicious.

(35:49):
But I blamed to everyone. Yeah so, actually, Tyson, you
do it's actually the inside of the cction. It's actually
the gonads of the cru Yeah. So it's it's tess
reprotected morgans yeah yeah, yeah, and they have five of them.
They have five testicle yeah, and Uni has five tescles
and female yeah five yeah, so many more than men. Yeah.

(36:14):
That's okay. So you have to cut open the sea
or chint and find the gonads yeah, all five of
them to wash them. Then you wash them, you're very
very delicate. They fall apart two right, and and when
you cut one open, it's it's a blood bath. It's
so mess. There's guts. I mean, it's really like if
you have to be the brave person who said I'm
going to eat that, you know what I mean, the

(36:35):
first person says a hungry person. It says, okay, all right,
me and you and I'm putting this down. I'm gonna win.
I mean, they had to be very brake. I'm sure
you bought trades for your South restaurants, right, sure, Yeah,
of course Japan. They're they're to these trays like like
this large and it's rose and rose rose. I'm all perfect.
How they make it that way? I can't find them.

(36:56):
That's so much work and care and delicate touch to
make them that prof We went we shot a little
documented piece for for Aspen Food Wine Class, like at
this um this uny processing facility up in Mendicino as
a matter of fact, and it's kind of wild, right,
So they're hand harvested. It's the only way legally you
can do it, all right, So they're so the diver

(37:17):
is going down and literally pulling them off and putting
them and they have to be a very specific size
and then taking up and then and how delicately we
as chefs would kind of go in with a pair
of scissors and cut the perfect circle off the top
and then take it and then wash it and then
take each piece off and then put them back. Um,
this is a little a little more uh you know, efficient.
So it's like this machine splits it right down the middle,

(37:39):
so so that then they can I actually light the
shells that way. I think they look kind of cool.
So you get at least halves of of uney and
then one's gonna have three yeah, and then and then
then yeah, and then literally they're they're all it's like
they have the very specific spoons, right, and they kind
of go in the back of the shell and curve
and take it all out, and then they get washed
and saline water, right, and then they get padded off entil,

(38:00):
and they get packed up in trays and then the
trays get wrapped and sealed, and it's gets kind of
a phenomenal process. I wish people could see you talk
on your hands right now. It's so good. That exactly.
It was the weirdest we were talking about the gonads.
You guys can't see that. That's exactly what it is, man,
exactly what it is real talk. I just thought that

(38:25):
Uni was sea or which I was right about that,
but I didn't know exactly what it was. Is there
other things that I'm ordering at sushi restaurants that are
weird things that I don't know? In Japan, I've I've
had like um horse slashimi. I've had horse horse. I've
had horse in Japan in Tokyo. Yeah, like a like

(38:47):
a one that you would ride, okay, yeah, like a
sea horse. It was good. Not you'd even cook it,
yeah exactly. I've had it raw yeah, any good, it
was good. I mean, like listen, there's there's there are
very few few proteins on plant Earth that I haven't
had to be honest with, very few. They also do
they also do chicken sashi me too. I've seen that

(39:09):
yeah before Jadori chickens. Yeah exactly, yeah exactly, like really
very very prestigious and fed yeh, super high quality. Those
are great. That's really yung me chicken. Yeah, but it's
it's like when when it's that cared for. It's like,
you know, still yeah, it's still well, So everybody, I
think if you had one piece, I think you'd love it.
What is the weirdest thing that is so incredibly good?

(39:30):
Everyone needs to try it? All right. So so when
Morimoto opened up Massa Harry Moury Moto Iron Chefs mass
Mo Moto. When he opened up his very first restaurant
in Philadelphia, myself and three chefs, I was living in
Manhattan in the time, took the train down, spent the weekend,
and I went and had had had dinner there, and uh,
and then you know, we had just like god, so
much food. And then this is when you know, I

(39:53):
was kind of blowing up in Food Network and he
was blown up on Food Network. So it was just
like it kind of felt like a scene, the fact
that we're both in the restaurant the same time. And
then and then at the end of it, Uh, he said, uh,
you know you would, So do you guys want anything else?
And I'm like, well, what what do you have? He goes,
all right, I got something for you. And then ten
minutes later, this small, little, like beautiful uh clay handmade

(40:15):
clay pot comes out and uh, and then a small,
smaller clay pot filled with with rice, right and then
and then these little bowls that kind of came out
and then you you take the rice out of the
small bowl, you put it into your bowl, and then
you open up this other like really beautiful train and
and this I'm gonna groc you guys out this white

(40:36):
because like very spongy texture. They kind of came out
of it, right and uh. And I'm like, okay, tell
me what this is and he said it was cod sperm.
Oh no, you didn't, you did, did? Yeah, little more
mouth is gonna you're gonna eat it, you know what
I mean, You're gonna that's what you're gonna do. You gotta. Yeah,
I guess I do love it. Yeah, I'm not. We're

(41:00):
not gonna just we're not gonna just rush by that. Yeah.
It was god sperb good. Uh. Yeah, you know, like, well,
I got so many questions anyway, I barely process, you
know what I mean, Like, well, I imagine to get
caught around the corner and right charge of fifteen bucks
and you have twenty bucks and twenty bucks, right, but
but but it has this like it's like it's like
it's almost kas like fish moose, right, it just wasn't.

(41:22):
It was very oceany. Yeah, kind of kind of always
a best I'm the rest of my days fish fish
like fish shoes. But yeah, yeah, Oh this other thing
we had, Oh my god, I've had so much weird
stuff with him. Man, he like he likes to put
you out. So then we had dinner a couple of
years later more moto. This is gonna get even grosser.

(41:43):
So soft enough. So so we were at Morimoto in
New York City and uh, and then I had dinner
with him and then he uh, you know, like like
barnacles and so like literally on my plate came a
chilled rock with barnacles attached to it. And the entire
rock was poached and dashi, right, and then and then

(42:04):
and on the rock were barnacles. So it's not like
the barnacles were harvested off the rock. The rock was
chipped away with the barnacles touched, and the whole thing
was poached, chilled, and the whole thing was served. So
then you literally go around the rock and you kind
of pull these small little like barnacle pieces and you
dip that and soy sauce and you eat that and
that was crazy. Barnacle not a fan. Not a fan,

(42:26):
you're not a fan, but you know' I'm talking about
yeah kind of many times. But what's girlfriend? I had
someone DC this past summer and there was not good.
It was, yeah, it was it was. It wasn't my
favor about a food. Yeah, abalone's really good alone. And
the other weird thing we had at Morimoto was was
a a turtle bullshot. Right, so's to dig this? So

(42:50):
these two shot glasses come out as a course, right,
and then one is hot and what is cold? Right?
And then one is ah, a shot of turtle? Do
she right? And you just shoot it and it's like that.
It's it's a it's a broth made with combo and
turtle meats, right, and then you drink that. And the
other one was was a bullshot and it was turtle

(43:13):
blood cured with vodka. Who and you shoot that? I mean,
the guy's a genius, and I would say, hands down.
I mean some of my favorite, like most extreme food
experiences have happened with Mossary more mote, that's for sure.
Do you know that a marble two Japanese food the
whole thing about eel, like ye is supposed to give
you this incredible amount of like passion and stamina and

(43:37):
like just it's something that you cannot challenge. It's a
bit busy for you. Ever, I like eel like like
a lot. I love you. I think heels delicious to
really really nice. I think eel's fantastic. Yeah, yeah, it's
good because it's so fatty and blueberry. So what do
you what do you call that that squidgy kind of
like melted protein like bite of eel because it's not

(43:57):
necessarily fat, right, Yeah, when it gets deal fat, for sure,
it's del fat when it gets melted down. So it's
so inscited, it's delicious. My best smoke, my best sense
is kind of smoke is on we have a busy
night coming up, he feeds. If he'd feed us a
whole bowl full of eel with rice and make us
drinks him beating his coffee and send the coffee and
eat eel and you got coming quick, Yeah, I'd be

(44:22):
so busy. It's just like run a marathon on that stuff.
It's amazing. It was amazing. Yeah, Oh, I thought you
were kind of implying that it made you like, uh,
like it was like an aphrodisiac. But what you're saying
is that, yeah, a little bit that too, coffee. It's
about energy energy, depth of energy, like you just feel
it from your toast your fingers really like wow, like
I'm ready to go. Yeah, it's that you was totally interesting.

(44:46):
Heels a wild thing to butcher too, right, it's so
hard to see seel, so hard that takes as far
as become a si chef. That was probably to the
end of my training, like tenures in of trying to
perfect that. What makes it so difficult. The vessels are
alive and game out tanking like poking nails and eyeball
and straighten the yell out and yeah your nail's head
to a board. Yeah, and then you have to go

(45:09):
to hold it down and filay it. So sushi knives
are are part of the arsenal being an incredible sushi chef.
And and there's a couple of shops one, you know,
Corn in New York City of course consus the best.
It's the best. It's do you think it's the best.
I think it's the best. It is the best. It's
the whole world. And you think corn is the best sushies.

(45:29):
I think you know it is. Yeah, I want to
ask you if that's the place where you get your
sush knives? Is where I get my all my nives
are absolutely absolutely yeah, because we don't talk about that
my world that much. But as a sishi chef and
doing that for ten fifteen years, my trade was a knife.
My craft is cutting fish, is playing fish's serving fish.

(45:50):
A knife, A sharp knife changes everything. So and and
and corn Knife Shop is on Warren Street and try Beck. Yeah.
So if you guys are in New York, Japanese samurai
blade literally iron blades of fortune, they get stupid expensive too. Yeah,
it's expensive. And how much thousands of thousands, thousands of dollars?
Yea thousands for one knife. Yeah. And it's like when

(46:12):
you have a shite a sharp knife, you can do anything.
You know, most cooks have a dull knife. When you
have dull knife, you're cutting onions, for example, and you're crying.
It's because you question the cells. If a sharp knife
you slice things, there's no crying. It's just through the cells,
through the cells. It tastes better too, there's no crying.
And onion cutting yeah, no, no, No, seriously, sharp knife

(46:34):
is a game changer as a chef. There's definitely crying
and eel cutting because the bitch you're still alive. It's
it's so hardcore, it's hard. Have you done it? No,
I've never done it. I've seen it, but I've never
I've never done that before. Yeah, yeah, I mean I've never. Yeah,
it's cool too. Last thing to say is that being
a shoe chef with knives, it's like you, we have

(46:57):
these knives you're using daily. You're sharp in the morning
every night, and you change the shape of these blades,
and so your craft are these knives. Yeah, and so
you have a different propos of different knives and over
time they changed, and so one might be like this
long and fought it, and over five years we'ld be
this long because you've shoved us so many times. You
get this personal blade and it's that much care and

(47:20):
that knife goes into the piece of sushi making later,
you know. I mean, the type of food that you
guys are talking about is so elevated. But I think
a lot of the people that are listening to this
podcast are like me who don't really know a whole lot.
But like really want to learn if there was one
thing that you could idea or concept that you could

(47:41):
convey to your patrons that would make their experience better
and yours your experience as the sushi chef better. What
would it be like? What do people need to know
when they walk into sushi restaurants, The care that takes
to make great sushi, the care that takes on the
staff that's that's making the susie, to care for the

(48:01):
staff that's working for an house and take care of you.
And lastly the hospitality questioned. You know, great Japanese restaurants,
augustaurants for that matter, it's all about tak care of
people with the guest. We're all about the guest and
that the staff is doing well. It's like enlightened hospitality
like Danny Meyer talks about. You know, if your team
has trained well and all about it and making the
best party every day, that changes everything. And so I

(48:24):
think if the guests knew that going in to resis
the restaurant that the team there is really focused on
great experience for you, I think they would appreciate it more,
maybe enjoy it more. So are you implying that like
a guest needs to go into a restaurant and be
much more willing to allow the waiters and the staff

(48:48):
to make decisions for them. I'm not turning the place,
not necessarily. I just think this idea that you're going
to restaurant, they're going to defeating you. Yeah, you're paying
them to feed you, right, So it's I think that
right now, I'm grateful to be in this era of
foodies and restaurants and that we can do that and
it's amazing and just I like how it's kind of
switching gears now it's not as much about the kiss

(49:09):
as much about the staff and shows and like the
bear for example, like people kind of getting now what
staffs go through the kitchen? Tyson, thank you so much
for being on two dudes in the kitchen. Thank you
before we let you go? Um where can people find you?
Where can people follow you? Tell everyone your restaurants where
they can go and enjoy your amazing food. Um Our
restaurants are here in Texas. We have like all five

(49:32):
cities bouchees um in Austin, Houston, Dallas. We also have
Buchies in Denver and Miami. Right now, where are Miami? Uh?
In kind of the design district. Okay, sure, yeah, no Winwood.
I'm talking about what's going to Wood Winwood, right, We're
just there for m Yeah, South Beach Food Wine Festival.
So yeah, because I and I bump the other. What's great.

(49:52):
So you love Miami? You love? It's your food's killing.
If you can love Miami. I love. It's so like
cosin Politan International, you know. Um, but answer your question,
and Austin we have. We have Lauren Asian small Cause here,
Uchiko as well, and Ucchi, and you know we're gonna
go like I said to La and other places, Well,

(50:13):
I'm gonna be one of the first people that you're
opening up the La restaurant. Thank you. We're so excited
about it. Yeah, you get you have to get us
contact information will be impossible to get into. Yeah, it'll
be impossible, but I know that exists. What I'm saying, Yeah,
there you go. Now you're right. Yeah, and that's that's
full circle because like I told you earlier, like twent

(50:34):
years ago, it was going La for two weeks to
do sushi research, and so I'm now opening there. I
cannot believe it. It's completely ciral. It's gonna happening, and
my team is so excited. So yeah, yeah, La, it's
a trophy like we're looking at LA. I think Las
a trophy. It will be for me too when we
finally get open there. Oh yeah, Studio City, Yeah yeah, yeah. Right,

(50:58):
before we wrap this up, one last thing. Is there
anything that we didn't ask you that you wish we
had that you want to talk about? That's a great question.
Um No, I think the main thing is just, you know,
I have to express mostly that you know, I'm fifty
two now and and it's amazing to be part of

(51:22):
a company that we've created here in Austin, Texas that's
now going national and so proud and happy and grateful
for all the people. And I never imagined that we
would become this and it couldn't have happened in any
place on in Austin, Texas. Started here. You know, great
things start in Austin, Texas, and for one of them.

(51:43):
So it's an amazing City's a really really interesting power
here right which you just can't get anywhere else. It's
good to see you again time. Yeah, great to see
you again, and really really truly great to see love
and you come and tell my staff loves you. Thank
you very much. Appreciate that. And your your staff are
so lovely to me and everybody that we bring out,
so I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you too. Fall
on Instagram two Dudes in a Kitchen Please rate and
review and the Apple and play stores give us five

(52:04):
stars and say whatever you want doesn't really matter, but
as long you gave us five stars, that would be great.
Big thanks to Tyson Cole. Everyone go to his restaurants
where they're everywhere over there, all over the country, and
let's go get a drink. I love that. See you
next week. Thank you guys. All right, guys, thanks for listening.
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(52:24):
five stars. We'll take that and we'll see you guys
next time. See you next time.