The owner of popular metro Atlanta Laotian restaurant Snackboxe Bistro is partnering with the restaurant’s head chef on a new take-home omakase concept.
Launching in November, Amkha Omakase is the brainchild of Thip Athakhanh, who opened Snackboxe Bistro in Doraville in 2018, and her close friend Amkha Sayasan, who serves as the restaurant’s general manager and head chef.
He worked as a chef for several years at Atlanta restaurants including Twist, Strip and Goldfish before leaving to work at sushi restaurants in Memphis. He returned to Atlanta in 2018 to join Snackboxe Bistro.
The service will offer a seasonal menu twice a month for pre-order and pick-up. The curated omakase sets will include an assortment of nigiri, sashimi and rolls; hot and cold appetizers; noodle dishes including truffle garlic noodle and uni pasta; soup and salad; dessert; and a beverage. Other dishes posted on the concept’s Instagram account include spicy honey miso shrimp tempura, coffee jelly, salmon carpaccio, uni oysters and crispy baby crabs.
The pair plan to host a dine-in pop-up event in October. It will be held at the Duluth location of Snackboxe Bistro, which is slated to open to the public in November.
“I’m most excited about this collaboration/partnership because it’s something different outside of Lao food,” Athakhanh said in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s a platform where I can branch out and be creative. And most importantly, Amkha and I both share a passion for food art and we love experimenting outside of the “traditional” box.”
Several metro Atlanta businesses have pivoted to focus on omakase. Sushi Hayakawa switched to an omakase-only model earlier this year, which will continue when the Buford Highway restaurant relocates to the Star Metals District mixed-use development.
Mujo, which has operated out of Cooks & Soldiers as a pop-up since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, will debut as a brick-and-mortar in the coming weeks with an emphasis on omakase.
Other restaurants that have put a focus on to-go omakase of late include Yakitori Jinbei and Chirori.
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