Twenty years in the making. Now on South Lamar.
Kitsu Nori is the realization of an idea Chef Paul Qui has carried since his earliest days at Uchi: sushi as both craft and visual experience, closer to art than to dinner.
Beautiful and intentional.
The restaurant draws from ikebana — the Japanese discipline of floral arrangement — and its insistence on balance, restraint, and intentionality in composition. Every dish is built to that rule. Nothing accidental. Nothing extra.
The design philosophy borrows from kintsugi — the practice of repairing broken vessels with gold. Natural-edged wood tables are sealed with gold epoxy. Plates broken in other restaurants are rebuilt the same way and given another life on our shelves. The room tells you what the food intends.
Our goal with Kitsu Nori is to serve something beautiful and intentional. Sushi could be more than just food — it could be an experience of balance, care, and craft.— Chef Paul Qui
Classical technique. Japanese precision.
The kitchen merges classical French method — sake au poivre, brown butter meunière — with Japanese discipline. Rice is tinted naturally with beet juice. Sauces are served tableside so the nori never softens. Thirty interior seats. A short, manicured patio. A full bar.
Bill Norris leads the beverage program: a curated sake list, Japanese whisky highballs on draft, and precision cocktails.
About Chef Paul Qui.
Paul Qui is an Austin-based chef recognized with a James Beard Award and the winning title of Top Chef. His background spans Uchi, East Side King, and Thai Kun — a chef fluent across Japanese, French, and Filipino traditions. Kitsu Nori is the first restaurant built entirely around an idea he's carried for two decades.
Credentials: James Beard Award · Uchi Alumni · Top Chef Winner · East Side King · Thai Kun