Sado Is One of the Best New Restaurants in the U.S., Esquire Says

Chef Nick Bognar works behind the sushi bar like a "merry ronin," the magazine says

Nov 28, 2023 at 12:51 pm

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Mabel Suen

An offering from Sado on the Hill.

For months we've been telling you Sado (5201 Shaw Avenue, 314-390-2883) is simply terrific — and, in fact, serving the best sushi in St. Louis.

Now you don't have to take our word for it. Just ask Esquire.

The glossy mag just released its list of the 50 best new restaurants in the nation, and Sado — the eight-month-old sushi restaurant on the Hill — notched a key spot, the only one in Missouri to make the list.

Nick Bognar's restaurant, writes Joshua David Stein, has "all the decorum of a rugby scrum and all the cakewalk swagger of a victor." He continues, "Typically, a sushi chef is a game-faced control freak. But Bognar, hair in a top knot and bandanna’d, works behind the sushi bar like a merry ronin. On the diner-thick menu is the brilliant confluence of his Thai and Japanese background. ... Plenty of labor goes on unseen (there’s a large kitchen with an area for aging fish), but it’s worn lightly, it's given freely, and its fruits are tasted with joy."

Amen to that. And kudos to Esquire for getting at least one spot on this year's list absolutely right.

Sado Offers World-Class Sushi on the Hill: Nick Bognar’s latest spot is a homage to his roots, his mastery of high-end Japanese cuisine and his own ambition

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Find St. Louis' Best Sushi at Sado on the Hill

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About The Author

Sarah Fenske

Sarah Fenske is the executive editor of the RFT and its sister papers. She is the former host of St. Louis on the Air and continues to host its Legal Roundtable, as well participating as an occasional panelist on Nine PBS' Donnybrook. She lives in St. Louis.

Email Sarah Fenske