The Umi Sushi Team Is Working on a Semi-Private, 'Swanky, and Sexy' Lounge

The team behind Buckhead's Umi Sushi, perhaps Atlanta's favorite place for raw fish, is working on a craft cocktail and sake lounge four doors down from the current restaurant. It's still early in the planning process, but the lounge is meant to be "semi-private."

UPDATE: The lounge will be called Himitsu.

"It's like a place where James Bond and Sammy Davis Jr. would meet for a martini," Umi co-owner Farshid Arshid said in a phone conversation with Eater Atlanta. "That's how I would poetically describe the design."

Specific details have not yet been determined, but the goal is for a "sexy and swanky" atmosphere. Farshid is hoping to bring in a well-respected industry veteran to create the cocktail program.

As for the semi-private aspect, Arshid said the idea is to have a place where people who are dining at Umi, or people who are known at the restaurant, can stop off before, or visit for an after-dinner drink. The exact details still being worked out, but it's not meant to be fully open to the public. The roughly 1,300-square-foot space is too small for its own kitchen, but there will be a prep area, and food from chef Fuyuhiko Ito at Umi will be available. The menu will likely feature some specific dishes for the lounge, but a few popular items from the restaurant should make an appearance too.

Arshid said he hopes the as-yet-unnamed lounge will open in Spring 2015. A high profile designer who will oversee the space's buildout is expected to be announced soon.