Beloved Chef’s New Katami Already Stands Out as One of Houston’s Best Restaurants — Chef Hori Shows His Swagger In Kata Robata Followup

The fish arrives at the table covered in a silver cloche and it’s removed with a flourish, revealing a smoked sake kasu black cod that more than lives up to the anticipation. This is just one of the showy touches at Katami, Manabu Horiuchi’s unexpected followup to Houston’s beloved Kata Robtata restaurant. Chef Hori is showing his swagger at Katami, which already belongs on any short list of the best restaurants in the nation’s fourth largest city.

Katami is that instantly impressive, that unforgettable. You’re liable to fall in love with it on your first visit.

Horiuchi is certainly bringing it, displaying a sense of showiness that never really marked the vibe at Kata Robata, but certainly fits the sleek setting of Katami on W. Dallas Street in Montrose (not far from the Waugh Whole Foods). This is Horiuchi in Steph Curry mode, taking step back 35 footers with glee. You cannot help but notice how much fun one of the most respected chefs in Houston is having — and it translates to the dining experience. And a host of unforgettable dishes.

You can go big at Katami with nine, 12 and 15 course omakase (tasting menus). Or the A5 Wagyu program, where three ounces of the coveted Kagoshima beef with sesame sauce and ponzu will set you back $77. A full sake program, really unlike anything else in Houston, with almost 70 different selections available also beckons. (Wine lover Horiuchi lavishes attention on this side of the drinks menu too.) There is even a foie gras PBJ milk bread, as whimsical a dish as you’ll find at a high-end Houston restaurant.

But even the more humble dishes at Katami can bring a sense of grand food theater. The house smoked salmon — which comes with avocado, yuzu foam, pickled onion and ciabatta bread — may be the best salmon dish I’ve ever had. It’s certainly in the top three all time of a lifetime that’s included dining at some of the best restaurants in New York City and California.

That’s the real magic of Katami. Even when Chef Hori is trying to keep things simple, he elevates the food to another level.

How many times in life are you utterly and unexpectedly delighted by something? Katami comes through on that front again and again. You’ll remember what you ate at Katami — and likely soon start plotting when you can get back.

The new restaurant’s space is also memorable with the Houston-based Abel Design Group’s work standing out. This represents a grand new stage for the Japanese-trained Horiuchi. The main dining room is surprisingly large with a view to the open sushi kitchen counter (similar to the Kata Robata counter, but more centered and less length dependent) and a number of bright touches. Still, it’s the Sun Room that truly shines.

On a sunny day, it’s an ultra light retreat with pretty shutter windows galore. Go at night, like we did, and the Sun Room takes on a more hidden retreat feel, a little dark and moody, but still fun. This is a sleeker more polished setting than Kata Robata, a space worthy of a master chef spreading his wings. Not so showy that you would not recognize it as fitting with the reserved Horiuchi’s personality. Yet, a very clear step in another direction.

How many times in life are you utterly and unexpectedly delighted by something? Katami comes through on that front again and again. You’ll remember what you ate at Katami,

Chef Hori Gone Bold

Horiuchi still visits Japan a few times a year as he detailed to PaperCity in a story on his favorite places in Tokyo. He went back again before opening Katami, seeking menu inspiration and you can see those influences at Katami. Chef Hori’s new restaurant boasts a full vegetable section on its menu, which includes a corn mushroom okonomiyaki. This traditional Japanese pancake dish is a street food that’s elevated at Katami.

Of course, like at any Chef Hori restaurant, the sushi and sashimi stand out at Katami too. Sashimi pieces come over ice in elaborate boxes that makes it seem special. News flash: This sashimi is special. Much of the new restaurant’s seafood is flown in from Japan. Kata Robata built part of its rep on its sushi, but once again Katami has Horiuchi reaching for another higher level.

Kata Robata’s menu did not change much over the years, but Chef Hori showed his creativity in the long list of daily specials. Now he’s brought that sense of adventure to the regular menu at his new spot. Katami’s menu runs eight pages and includes a full caviar service and kakigori, traditional shaved Japanese ice in creative flavors like strawberry Nutella and green tea.

Chef Hori is showing his swagger at Katami, which already belongs on any short list of the best restaurants in the nation’s fourth largest city.

It is not easy to do a followup to Kata Robabta, which went from groundbreaking when it opened 14 years ago to one of the Bayou City’s truly enduring culinary institutions. Houston Texans legend J.J. Watt is hardly the only one to declare Kata his all-time favorite restaurant. But Chef Hori pulls off the difficult task of creating a worthy encore by bringing his adopted city something different, something inventive.

Katami is a place where you can have one of the most lavish meals in Houston. Or a spot where you can just get sashimi and shaved ice. It’s something of a choose your own restaurant vibe. And whether you’re going extremely high-end or not, whether you’re partaking in super rare Wagyu shabu shabu style done table side or noshing on a Japanese corn mushroom pancake, you get to be part of the overall showy scene.

Bradley Cooper’s Maestro isn’t this dramatic.

Katami makes the best kind of first impression, building anticipation for what’s going to come at Manabu Horiuchi’s Kata Robata followup. Getting recognized as one of the best new restaurants in America seems inevitable. Katami is already operating in rarefied air.

Katami can be found at 2701 W Dallas Street. This new Houston restaurant is currently open from 5 pm to 10 pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 5 pm to 10:30 pm Fridays and Saturdays and 5 pm to 10 pm on Sundays. There are plans to open for lunch in the near future.