Yo! Sushi sets Japanese food in motion at Mall at UTC in Sarasota
UNIVERSITY PARK -- An endless stream of tiny bubbles and glasses of wine had a room full of people feeling fine Thursday night when a long-anticipated Yo! Sushi restaurant opened at The Mall at University Town Center.
The gala invitation-only preview event seemed not only to whet the appetites of a couple hundred guests, but hundreds of people passing by the restaurant space inside the new mall. Shrouded in plywood and under construction six months after most of the mall's other restaurant debuts, Yo! Sushi instantly caught the imaginations of shoppers. They stopped in droves outside the dining room windows to watch a conveyor belt full of small sushi plates covered in clear plastic bubble tops journey hundreds of feet from chefs to tables.
The opening was a U.S. relaunch for United Kingdom-based Yo! Sushi, an 18-year-old traditional Japanese "rotation sushi" restaurant chain that claims to put a fresh, energetic twist on the niche cuisine. The company actually opened its first U.S. location in Washington, D.C. in 2012, but closed it last year.
This week, Yo! Sushi opened locations in University Park and in a mall in New Jersey, and publicized more openings in Tampa and in the Garden State.
The UTC location officially opened for business Friday morning.
Werner Coetzee, Yo! Sushi's international operations manager, attended Thursday's event as a last-minute guest to punctuate the company's emphasis on its first Florida restaurant. He said Yo! Sushi picked the Taubman-owned UTC mall as a starting point because it has a high profile and sushi fits the "freshness" of the Florida lifestyle.
"We're very excited to come to America," Coetzee said. "Taubman malls are always very good."
Although the opening drew plenty of execs from the 88-restaurant company and scores of excited local guests, the stars of the night were the colorful plates loaded with rolls, sashimi, salads and noodle dishes gliding along 281 feet of conveyor belt. Priced between $3 and $7 each, the chef-prepared mini-doses of Japanese fare were gobbled up almost as fast as the kitch
en crew at the sushi bar could make them.
Head chef Anderyas Putranto put two weeks of training in the U.K. to good use keeping up with the crowd. Putranto's boss was pleased with how he ran the sushi-bar style kitchen.
"He learned the Yo! Sushi way, then came back here to train the wider team," said Mike Lewis, Yo! Sushi's group executive chef.
The Yo! Sushi format is calculated to capture both diners looking for a quick meal or a full evening of sushi tasting. A customer's bill is tabulated by adding up the number of plates used. Prices of individual items are indicated by the color of plate it arrives on. A three-piece lobster, avocado and caviar roll is at the top of the food price chain at $7. Less expensive but no-less-creative items include a four-piece California roll made with a crab salad mix for $4.
A diner in full sit-down mode not only has a choice of whatever dishes are on the conveyor at the moment, but can order fresh items off the menu to come directly to the table. Twenty-nine hot dishes are available for off-belt ordering, as well as soups, hand rolls and wine, beer and saki. Wait staff are summoned via push buttons at each table that light colored bubble towers.
Alex Benitez, the location's manager, said Yo! Sushi places an emphasis on keeping the food rotation fresh and varied. The chefs rotate through sections of the menu every few hours, meaning what is on the conveyor for lunch may not be there at dinner time. Cold items are tracked by a computer system and spend no more than two hours on the belt. Hot dishes, placed uncovered as teasers on the belt, spend only two minutes traveling around the restaurant before being pulled off.
Benitez said the mix of dishes will be guided by diners' preferences. Data gathered on what gets ordered and eaten will determine, over time, what the kitchen prepares.
"We always welcome people to order," he said. "Please order."
Benitez did caution that the amount of damage a diner does to his or her bill is that person's choosing. While the average bill is around $15 for a meal, it's easy to spend much more.
The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Restaurant staff can be contacted at 941-313-7091.
Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027, or on Twitter @MattAtBradenton.
This story was originally published May 2, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Yo! Sushi sets Japanese food in motion at Mall at UTC in Sarasota."