What’s in that old bank vault? Soon, a flashy new Fort Worth sushi and sake restaurant

Bud Kennedy
Updated ·2 min read

A flashy Asian restaurant and sushi bar is coming to downtown Fort Worth, and with an all-day menu.

The new Musume restaurant in the elegant Sandman Signature hotel, 810 Houston St., will open this summer featuring a contemporary setting, dozens of sakes and — a local first — breakfast.

“We’ll have classic breakfast but with Asian-Japanese flavors, and sneak in some breakfast sushi at weekend brunch,” said culinary director Chris Conlon of Musume, a Dallas Arts District restaurant expanding to downtown Fort Worth.

The chef is a familiar face in Fort Worth: Yuzo Toyama, a long-ago chef at the former Piranha. He left to open a popular Oklahoma City Asian-Latin restaurant before returning to Texas.

Bigeye tuna with garlic and truffle soy at Musume.
Bigeye tuna with garlic and truffle soy at Musume.

“Every city has a different flavor,” Toyama said. “We want to bring some unique sushi to Fort Worth.”

The restaurant is in the lobby bar and lower-level vault of the 103-year-old W.T. Waggoner Building, a 20-story skyscraper that was home to the old Continental National Bank until 1957.

“It’s really exciting to be in a building like this,” Conlon said.

Veteran sushi chef Yuzo Toyama will lead Musume in the Sandman hotel.
Veteran sushi chef Yuzo Toyama will lead Musume in the Sandman hotel.

The old bank vault doors are now the doors to the kitchen and sushi bar, he said.

Musume — “muh-suh-may,” Japanese for “daughter” — is known in Dallas for grilled lamb lollipops with Thai basil, roasted sea bass with mushroom risotto, yellowtail serrano sashimi and a “Morgan” California roll with serrano, Sriracha sauce and Thai basil vinaigrette.

The Fort Worth restaurant will add tableside ramen and other new items along with the breakfast menu, a must for a hotel restaurant.

A “Superfly” vegan roll, black cod misozuke and steamed buns at Musume.
A “Superfly” vegan roll, black cod misozuke and steamed buns at Musume.

It’ll offer dishes along the lines of a marinated steak-and-eggs, a breakfast fried rice and a Japanese omelet, Conlon said.

(Coincidentally, the hotel is a block from the little J’s Burgers n’ More downtown cafe, which serves simple American breakfasts but also a “spicy Thai omelet.”)

Toyama grew up in Shizuoka, Japan, between Tokyo and Nagoya.

Market vegetable tofu, “Forbidden” halibut and Ishayaki stone cooking at Musume.
Market vegetable tofu, “Forbidden” halibut and Ishayaki stone cooking at Musume.

After leaving Piranha, he made his name in Oklahoma City for his Yuzo Sushi Tapas restaurant, serving fusion dishes such as a “Latino roll” with avocado, pico de gallo and aurora peppers.

The hotel is open. Musume is projected to open in late June or July; 682-842-9350, musumefortworth.com.