O-Ku Greenville's Japanese and seafood inspired menu by Chef Aguilar. Exclusive look.
When the Charleston-based Japanese and seafood restaurant O-Ku Greenville opens Friday, guests will see charred-wood accents, obscurely oval mirrors and a purple insignia that translates to hospitality in English.
The restaurant, at 40 W. Broad St., has a menu designed specifically for Greenville. Kimball Brienza, the managing partner of O-Ku Restaurants, has prepped the franchise's eighth location and vetted the wait staff and servers.
"We hire specifically on personality and emotional traits, not experience," Brienza said. "You can build a beautiful restaurant; your food can be tasty, but our industry is a people-person industry. That's what we're going to consistently deliver."
O-Ku features a wide selection of specialty sushi rolls, including nigiri (oval-shaped mound of rice with a slice of raw fish on top), sashimi (bite-sized pieces of fish with wasabi and soy sauce), tremani (hand-sized sushi), usuzukuri (thinly sliced fish), and more.
After years of instruction under Chef Masa Hamaya, director of culinary for O-Ku, Chef Jose Aguilar will serve as executive chef of the restaurant. It is his first time as an executive chef, but his humbleness, caring nature and hard work ethic is why he received the job, restaurant officials said.
O-Ku Greenville Dinner Menu:
O-Ku Greenville Dessert Menu:
Question: How will your Japanese and seafood menu differ from other sushi spaces in Greenville?
Hamaya: We use fresh ingredients and we do not false advertise to customers. We are doing business, so profit making is very important. But, at the same time, our job is to create a better culture. I want this place to be very Japanese-driven. Our black cod is farm raised from British Columbia and they are raised the right way and coming from the right source.
Q: What made you generate this type of menu for Greenville?
Hamaya: Approachability, and a fresh wind. Most sushi restaurants in the deep south are what they used to do in the 1980s. We make our sauces in-house. That's the idea of this restaurant.
Aguilar: Our main goal here is to give people something different. I'm coming from Atlanta, but I love this city so much. It's a new breath of fresh air. To me, we get to introduce the folks in Greenville to something different. Something that people can say they've gone to LA or Atlanta to try sushi and maybe I can find a twist of that with the local ingredients here. We're trying to bring something good, approachable and different, and a new experience for all of us.
Q: Are you locally sourcing items and ingredients from South Carolina or Greenville specifically?
Hamaya: I started going to the farmers market down the street and started to communicate with the microgreen (representatives). I have not seen a farmer's market as good as Greenville.
Q: For the average eater, what are some recommendations for first-time sushi eaters?
Aguilar: The oyster mushrooms speak for themselves. The black cod is half-seared, a little bit raw, but you will still get a hint of the crispiness from torching the black cod itself, along with a basil glaze so it adds a sweetness to it. That's a good way to get people into fish and sushi.
Also, the soy, sake, ginger, sesame seeds and garlic act as a glaze, seared wagyu.
Q: What is your goal for this menu, what does it say about your artistry as a chef?
Aguilar: It's mainly about how things go well together. The flavors can be plentiful, but it's more about bringing them together. I think one of the best dishes we are bringing is our oyster mushrooms. The sauce has a hint of garlic, with the freshness of the ginger, the soy works as a glaze and the nuttiness of the sesame seeds.
– A.J. Jackson covers the food & dining scene, along with arts, entertainment and more for The Greenville News and Anderson Independent Mail. Contact him by email at ajackson@gannett.com, and follow him on Twitter @ajhappened.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: O-Ku Greenville is a Japanese seafood restaurant. What to know.
