Sado Named One of the Most Anticipated Restaurants in the US

The St. Louis dining community has been buzzing about the forthcoming Sado ever since the Bognar family announced their plans to open the restaurant last fall. Now, it appears the rest of the country is eagerly awaiting the opening of the world-class sushi restaurant as well.

In its roundup of the 14 Most Anticipated Restaurants in America published on January 3, Bloomberg named Sado as one of the top places to look forward to in 2023. The forthcoming restaurant, which will soon open in the former Giovanni's on the Hill, shares the honor with some of the biggest names in American dining, such as the soon-to-open Miami outpost of acclaimed New York brasserie Pastis, and New York City's Moono, which comes from the group behind Atomix, which is ranked as one of the 50 top restaurants in the world.

"It's pretty exciting to be on a list with so many bad ass people," says Nick Bognar, chef and co-owner of Sado, Indo and Nippon Tei. "Sometimes, I have imposter syndrome, but then I remind myself of how hard our whole team works. We have so many awesome, talented people working for us that I feel like we are capable of so much more. I'm looking forward to enabling those people and being the chef again at a new spot."

As Bognar explains, Sado feels like a full-circle realization for his parents, Ann and Mike, who opened their west county Japanese restaurant Nippon Tei 21 years ago. Through their hard work and dedication, they built the spot into one of the city's most beloved restaurants and sparked in their son an interest in the culinary field that would set him on course to become an acclaimed chef and restaurateur in his own right. It set him up to go on to other restaurants around the country, where he honed his skills before coming back to Nippon Tei in 2017.

Working alongside his parents, Bognar took Nippon Tei in a new direction, turning the restaurant into top-notch sushi restaurant while executing on old favorites. He parlayed this success into Indo, the Botanical Heights hot spot he opened in 2019 that has earned him national acclaim.

Sado represents the next evolution in Bognar and his family's restaurant story. When it opens, Nippon Tei will shutter — a change that is both exciting and emotional for the family.

"My mom and dad got started with Nippon Tei 21 years ago," Bognar says. "The were both food and beverage professionals before that, so this is a huge culmination of the mountain of work they have done. I'm stoked to see my parents have an actual tangible building where everything we to to make it awesome is ours. It's so great to see my mom and dad have an obvious next step."
Though Sado will incorporate several elements of Nippon Tei, Bognar is excited to build the restaurant from the ground up. He describes the restaurant, first and foremost, as a sushi bar that will have a core menu, but will also feature a rotating selection of fish and other offerings. He is also excited to feature a robust Wagyu beef menu, and he is eager to play around with different techniques, such as dry-aging his fish.

Though Bognar describes Sado as a fine-dining restaurant, he wants to dispel the perception that it will be a stuffy, special occasion place. He notes that the interior will consist of a cocktail bar and lounge in addition to the dining room where tables will be reserved for walk-ins.

"People are getting this feeling that we are this serious restaurant, but I have to play around a little," Bognar says. "I don't want it to feel stuff. You can come in and know why you are here and everything is done extremely well; we take the food and presentation seriously, but I want to bring that feeling of just having fun and give people surprises when things hit the table. The food won't be 'suit and tie and everything is so perfect.' We will still show extreme respect to the ingredients, but we want to color outside the lines a little bit."

Bognar is equally excited about the Sado space itself. Because his family owns the building, they have been able to fully renovate it to their exact specifications and taste, resulting in what he describes as a stunning restaurant with an aesthetic that matches the level of the food it will be serving. He is also looking forward to the restaurant's outdoor space, which will consist of a private sushi pavilion, and he is equally thrilled to begin doing his omakase chef tasting dinners as soon as the restaurant gets its feet underneath it.

"We are going to do what we do really well, and people are going to love it," Bognar promises. "The sky is the limit."


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