After years of suffering brought on by inferior Japanese dining options, Decatur is finally getting its own legitimate Japanese restaurant. A modern 2,500 sqft sushi bar and Izakaya from Itamae Jason Liang, Brushstroke Sushi Izakaya is set to open at 316 Church St. As with most restaurant openings, there is no set date but Liang is hoping to be serving sushi by late this summer. Devotees to Japanese cuisine will be pleasantly surprised that Liang’s vision, though definitely contemporary, is more inline with the traditions of the Japanese sushi-ya than Atlanta is used to seeing.
While Liang may not be a household name to everyone, many frequenters of chef Jey Oh’s Craft Izakaya will recognize Liang as the “sous-sushi” slinger from the Krog St Market eatery. The Taiwanese expat left towards the end of last year (with Craft’s full-support I might add) as he began to lay the foundation for Brushstroke’s appearance.
To satisfy the Izakaya (think ‘Japanese gastropub’) requirements, Brushstroke is going to utilize GrassRoots Farm free-range chicken for their yakitori. All the pickled vegetables, sauces, and the like will be made on site at Brushstroke. However, the really selling point for sushi-fiends Japanophiles might just be Liang’s goals for the sushi program. The focus is on Edomae style sushi (Edo-style sushi primer) whereby Liang will utilize fish sourced from both the famed Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan and high-quality local purveyors here in the States. Patrons seated at the small-ish sushi counter will be treated to the traditional cadence of high-end Japanese meals via piece-by-piece servings of the nigiri.
If you’ve kept with me this long, be sure to take note of Brushstroke’s instagram feed which is housed @BrushstrokeATL. Oh and in case you’re a little befuddled by the choice of names, Liang explains:
The name is inspired by old style Japanese/Asian painting and writing which were drawn and written with brushes. A brush is also an important utensil for seasoning nigiri; The image of “A sushi master brushing a nigiri” is one of the scenes customers will see when they sit in front of our sushi bar.
An image of a brushstroke looks like a path, road or map, it’s like a timeline of my journey where I am introducing my experience of cooking, traveling and my vision to our customers.