Charlotte could be forgiven for wondering if James Beard Award-winning chef Tyson Cole had forgotten the promise he made in 2024 to bring us our very own Uchi, the Japanese-inspired, out-of-the-bento box restaurant he launched in Austin in 2003. Since winning Beard’s Best Chef: Southwest in 2011, Cole has opened a dozen or so Uchis, Uchibas and Uchikos in cities coast-to-coast.

On March 31, Cole and the Hai Hospitality group will make good on that promise, debuting the thoroughly modern Uchi in a meticulously renovated century-old manufacturing building, a historical marker in Plaza Midwood’s Commonwealth development. Brick walls that soar two stories and enormous windows wrap the vast room, with a sushi bar that curves into a cocktail bar, cozy booths and streamlined tables and chairs. Light-wood floors and paneling are accessorized with copper screens, statement plants, whimsical wallpaper and sculptural lighting.

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