From Our House to Yours
About Uchi
The award-winning Uchi, which translated from Japanese means “house”, is located in a refurbished old home in South Austin. Its vibrant, contemporary design featuring Cole’s signature nontraditional take on Japanese cuisine has been warmly received by Austin’s diverse dining crowd, as well as visitors from around the country and around the world since its opening in 2003.
Uchi and the recently opened Uchiko have garnered major accolades and recognition since opening in 2003 including Food & Wine’s “Top Ten Best New Chefs in America” in 2005, battling with Morimoto on Iron Chef America and a nod as a “Top Ten Texas Tastemaker” in Saveur. In 2010, Uchiko received “Top Ten Best New Restaurants” acclaim from GQ Magazine and “Number One Best New Restaurant” recognition from Texas Monthly a couple of weeks ago. Articles and praise range from consistently great reviews in Zagat (#1 in Austin), Fearless Critic, the Austin American-Statesman, and Austin Chronicle to features in the Wall Street Journal and Oxford American. The James Beard Foundation has also recognized Chef Cole and his Executive Pastry Chef Philip Speer with nominations for the James Beard Foundation Awards.
Authors
Tyson Cole
Tyson Cole, 40, is a passionate student of the Japanese tradition. Cole became fascinated with sushi in his early twenties while working at an Austin Japanese restaurant. He dedicated himself to learning every aspect of the cuisine. Demonstrating skill and dexterity with the knife, he quickly worked his way onto the sushi line at Austin's top sushi restaurant, Musashino, where he completed an intensive traditional apprenticeship under owner Takehiko Fuse. Fuse challenged him to learn the Japanese language, which helped Cole learn more about the cuisine. He later trained at Bond Street, one of the busiest sushi restaurants in New York City. In his last year at Musashino, Cole began experimenting with new ideas about flavors, influences and ingredients, running the restaurant in Fuse's absence.
In May of 2003 Uchi opened with Cole as Executive Chef and co-owner. He continues his path of study and experimentation at Uchi, developing unprecedented, multi-cultural combinations using his impeccable knowledge of technique. Cole's gift of marrying global ingredients and flavors with traditional Japanese flavors quickly garnered him local as well as national attention and Uchi became one of the top fine dining restaurants in Austin. The accolades continued when he was awarded a coveted spot on Food and Wine Magazine's Best New Chefs of 2005 list. Cole opened his second restaurant in Austin, Uchiko, in July 2010.
Jessica Dupuy
Jessica Dupuy is a freelance writer who has written for National Geographic Traveler, Texas Monthly, Texas Highways, Fodor's Travel Publications, Tribeza, Austin Monthly, Edible Austin, Austin-American Statesman, and Texas Home and Living. She has also written Uchi: The Cookbook, a cookbook about one of the nation's most renowned sushi restaurants in conjunction with Executive Chef Tyson Cole.
Dupuy's favorite writing pursuits are about the things she loves most in life: food, travel, and the outdoors. Having received a Bachelor's degree in History and Political Science from Trinity University and a Master's degree in Journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Dupuy has also spent time living Dublin, Ireland and Strasbourg, France; experiences that piqued her interest in writing. Dupuy lives in Austin with her husband, Myers, her son, Gus, and two Duck Tolling retrievers, Finn and Ginger. She enjoys cooking, traveling, triathlons, and fly-fishing and is a member of Les Dames D'Escoffier-Austin and is on the Advisory Board for the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival.