The Press, Reviews & Awards

Earning his second James Beard Award nomination for Best Chef: South, and his third nomination overall, is Kabooki Sushi's Henry Moso. Moso was nominated last year for Best Chef: South and in 2020 for Rising Star Chef of the Year.

Henry Moso, owner and head sushi chef of Kabooki Sushi, is up for Best Chef in the South in the prestigious James Beard Awards.

Henry Moso, chef/owner of Orlando’s Kabooki Sushi, has again been nominated in the Best Chef category for the South region. Although in years past the semifinalist list often included multiple chefs from Central Florida among the 20 names, Moso is the sole nominee from the area. There are other Florida chef nominees, but most are from South Florida.

Five semifinalists, four categories and nowhere for Orlando’s dining scene to go but up. Why? Because, say the 2022 nominees, recognition from the [James Beard Foundation](https://www.jamesbeard.org/) isn’t merely validation of their hard work and commitment to the culinary excellence, it is an acknowledgment that the city’s dining scene has arrived. “We’re really proud to be doing what we do in Orlando,” says Jason Chin of [Good Salt Restaurant Group](https://www.goodsaltgrp.com/), who along with wife and business partner, Sue, was nominated in the Outstanding Restaurateur category.

Orlando's 2022 James Beard Awards semifinalists, from left, Jason and Sue Chin, Rabii Saber, Henry Moso and Evette Rahman.

Our local Orlando / Central Florida’s food scene recently had several chefs and restauranteurs nominated for the 2022 James Beard Awards, a top honor in the food industry. “The mission of the James Beard Awards is to recognize exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and broader food system, as well as a demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive,” according to the James Beard Foundations website. The James Beard Foundation recently announced the semifinalists for its chef and restaurant categories with four Orlando culinarians who were nominated: Henry Moso of Kabooki Sushi for Best Chef: South Rabii Saber of the Four Seasons Resort Orlando for Outstanding Pastry Chef Evette Rahman of Sister Honey’s for Outstanding Baker Jason and Sue Chin of the Good Salt Restaurant Group for Outstanding Restaurateur. We recently spoke with them via e-mail to get their responses on being nominated for this prestigious award and what this means to them and Orlando –

After a two year hiatus, the James Beard Foundation released its list of semifinalists for the 2022 Restaurant and Chef Awards. Overall, 12 Miami-based restaurants, bars, and chefs made the cut. The annual award ceremony — which many call the Oscars of the culinary world — were canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The organization also completed an internal audit last year in an attempt to overhaul its policies and procedures to be more inclusive and transparent in how nominees were decided upon following years of accusations of racism, sexism, and scandals surrounding many of those who’ve been nominated in years past.

The James Beard Awards are the highest honors in America for chefs and restaurants. After a year-long hiatus, the awards have returned. On Wednesday the James Beard Foundation announced the semi-finalists for the 2022 awards. In each of the national award categories, 20 semi-finalists are named. The exception is the Best New Restaurant award, which has 30 finalists. Here are the restaurants, bars and chefs from across the South who made the cut:

Announcing our 2020 Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists! Read on for the semifinalists in all categories, from Outstanding Restaurant to Rising Star Chef. We'll announce the final Restaurant and Chef Award nominees, as well as the nominees for our Media and Restaurant Design Awards, in Philadelphia on Wednesday, March 25. The nominee announcement will begin at 9:00 A.M. ET and will be streamed live (check back soon for details). Nominees will also be announced in real time via our Twitter feed. The 2020 James Beard Awards presented by Capital One will mark the 30th anniversary of America’s most coveted and comprehensive honors for chefs, restaurants, journalists, authors, and other leaders in the food and beverage industry. The 2020 James Beard Awards Gala will take place on Monday, May 4, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The 2020 Leadership Awards will be held on Sunday, May 3 in Chicago, and the 2020 Media Awards will take place on Friday, April 24, at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City. Tickets to both the Awards Gala and the Media Awards will be on sale beginning March 25 at jamesbeard.org/awards.

It's been a busy 12 months for Kabooki Sushi's Henry Moso. He opened Kabooki Sushi Sand Lake, a Top Table of 2019, back in May then announced an expansion of the original Kabooki Sushi on East Colonial Drive just last week. Today, he just earned himself a James Beard Foundation Award nomination for Rising Star Chef of the Year.

This morning, the James Beard Foundation shared the list of semifinalists for the 30th annual James Beard Awards, highlighting some of the most talented, creative, and accomplished people working in food throughout the United States.Last year, the foundation announced the biggest shake-up to the regional Best Chef categories since 2007, and this is the first year it will be in effect. California and Texas are now their own regions; Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington State have been combined into a new “Northwest & Pacific” region; Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming are now part of a new “Mountain” region; and New York City, once its own category, has now been combined with the rest of New York to form the “New York State” region.Still, New York City is well-represented among this year’s nominees, with Sam Yoo’s Golden Diner making the Best New Restaurant nominees list; Existing Conditions and Brooklyn’s Leyenda making the cut for Outstanding Bar Program; and SriPraPhai landing among the Outstanding Restaurant nominees. Tune in on March 25 when the semifinalists list is narrowed down to this year’s finalists, and see who wins when the awards take place in Chicago on May 4.

After announcing the “America’s Classic” award recipients last week, the James Beard Foundation is back with its highly anticipated semifinalist nominations for the 2020 Restaurant and Chef awards. Released on February 26, the list is packed with familiar faces, including Food & Wine Best New Chef alums Missy Robbins, Misti Norris, Gabriel Rucker, Jeremiah Stone, and Fabián von Hauske. It’s also the first iteration of the awards to include the regional changes announced last September, which added California, Texas, and New York State as standalone categories, along with several reorganizations.

Henry Moso, the local James Beard nominee for Rising Star Chef of the Year, has been spending a good part of the pandemic reinvesting into the future of Kabooki Sushi on East Colonial Drive. Soon after opening Kabooki Sushi on Sand Lake Road, Moso began plotting out expansion plans for the original Kabooki Sushi and, now, the omakase hotspot is poised to reopen in its slick new digs.

Regulars at Kabooki Sushi's original East Colonial Drive locale haven't let the space's tight quarters stop them from indulging in some of the best sushi and omakases this town has to offer. But the literal rubbing of elbows will soon be a thing of the past as Kabooki chef and owner Henry Moso will soon expand the restaurant into the space next door. That space, once home to Jet's Pizza, will increase Kabooki's square footage to over 3,000 square feet (from its current 1,800) and up the seating capacity from 44 to 152. Moso says he will add a full bar and lounge area and offer late night bites on weekends until 2 a.m.He'll also alter the aesthetic of the restaurant by going for a theme that's "hip, modern and industrial but still Japanese in vibe."Moso will close the restaurant for two or three weeks for the demolition, during which time he'll make improvements to the kitchen's hood and ventilation system. Look for Kabooki Sushi V2.0 to debut in October.

The high-end, highly touted Kabooki Sushi now sits at two convenient corners of Central Florida. About six years ago at age 22, Chef Henry Moso opened Kabooki’s first location in a plaza off of East Colonial Drive and, then, in May of last year, the restaurant expanded to Dr. Phillips. My friend and I spent a Sunday at Disney, so we decided to visit the Dr. Phillips location that evening since its closer to many of Orlando’s attractions. Behind the Kabooki’s walls lies an ambience of dim lighting and chic design. The overall restaurant fits about 80 people in the main dining area, so small enough to feel pretty intimate; perfect for any date night. The hostess sat us in a corner booth, far away from the kitchen and noisy chatter.

Chef’s tables are popping up all over Central Florida, and at more restaurants than you might think. The tables and tastings give our local culinary talent a place to express epicurean panache while wowing diners with a one-of-a-kind feast they won’t soon forget. Check out these local spots for a memorable experience.

Chef Henry Moso watches and learns from others—and Kabooki Sushi diners are reaping the benefits. Strip mall sushi. Granted, not the most tempting idea at first, but take a young chef with an opportunity to show his talents in his own space, add inventive and often surprising food, and location becomes less important. Henry Moso, chef/owner of Kabooki Sushi, is that chef in that space. He spent his childhood in his native Laos and throughout Southeast Asia, moving to the United States 10 years ago. “I’m a foodie foodie guy,” the baby-faced Moso says with a laugh. He has a passion for Japanese culture, sporting forearm tattoos that could have come from a Edo-era painting, and he wields a sharp, thin blade like a samurai. His mother owned the Bangkok Square restaurant and Origami Sushi near UCF, where Moso sharpened his sushi skills. His inspiration comes not from an academic background, but from an observant nature, and TV.

The eight Orlando restaurants below represent a mix of high-end classics, new culinary upstarts, and quick-eat favorites. There are two ways to do sushi: tiny shops with simple décor and a few wobbly tables, and lavish, beautifully decorated spots where the artistry on the walls is carried onto each plate. Kabooki Sushi is the latter. Don’t let the location fool you: Though the Orlando restaurant seems off the beaten path at the Colonial Town Center strip mall, once you’re inside you’ll understand what all the fuss is about. Plates are painstakingly attended to by Chef Henry Moso, who manages to blend other cultures with the extensive Japanese offerings. Kabooki Sushi is the real deal, even if the food is almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

A look at 30 of our favorite Asian restaurants throughout Greater Orlando.‍ Food from around the world can be found in Greater Orlando, and nothing better exemplifies that diversity than our wide range of Asian restaurants. From the authentic Vietnamese offerings of Mills 50 to high-end celebrity chef eateries and everything in between, here are 30 of our favorites.‍

I was certainly surprised when I stepped inside Kabooki Sushi. The location, at the corner of Colonial Drive and Maguire Avenue, across the street from the Sears Auto Center at Fashion Square Mall, and the facade, an unassuming storefront in a mini row of businesses, didn’t prepare me for the chicly styled restaurant inside. The sushi bar and kitchen are at the far end of the room -- far being a relative term, as this is a fairly small place -- with comfy looking stools. There is a row of banquettes along one wall with white tufted leather seat backs. The other wall has a row of booths. In between are conventional tables and chairs. Large light globes hang about, and the burnt orange walls sport some Japanese paintings amid the omnipresent flatscreen tvs. But instead of sports programming or opinionated news channels, these televisions play a video that shows fish and the road they take from the sea to a sushi bar. That includes some bloody scenes that might upset some diners.

In the theatrical arena of the sushi bar, the chef often brings a certain degree of flair and showmanship to the stage behind the refrigerated display case. Sometimes, the performance can be a real show-stopper; sometimes, it can be an utter tragedy. At Kabooki Sushi, itamae Henry Moso and his supporting cast are drawing raves (and plenty of sushi zealots) to their kitchen stadium downtown, and deservedly so.

Kabooki Sushi is raising the bar for sushi and cutting-edge fusion cuisine in Central Florida. And chef Henry Moso's menu changes daily to reflect the best seasonal ingredients. The restaurant is in a drab strip mall across from Orlando Fashion Square. But Kabooki's interior is far from run-of-the-mill. Sleek booths and banquette seating line the walls, keeping the space open and stylish. Chic lighting illuminates the small space, and the bar that looks into the open kitchen features a few coveted chairs where diners can observe the culinary team in action.

Kabooki Sushi (a play on “kabuki,” the ancient Japanese theatre art-form), is probably one of the most exciting – and one of my favorite sushi places – in Orlando right now. Located at the corner of Maguire Blvd and Colonial Drive near the Fashion Square Mall inside a rather drab strip mall – its exterior looks deceive the many splendors which lay within.

Best of Orlando 2016 The final round of voting is here! Your vote is your voice, and it's time for you to speak out on 2016's best people, places and things in our annual Best of Orlando Readers Poll. Choose from the nominees for Orlando's best food & drink, goods & services, music & nightlife, local color, and sports & recreation, or write in your favorite if you don't see them in the nominees. We close this final round at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10. The privacy of the voting booth is sacred, of course, but should you choose to share your opinion on social media, be sure to hashtag it #boo2016. Winners will be announced in our Best of Orlando issue published Wednesday, Aug. 24.

HAND YOUR PALATE OVER TO THE CHEF FOR AN ORLANDO OMAKASE FEAST THAT WILL ASTOUND YOU The exact translation of Omakase is debatable. Some say it means “chefs choice,” while others will argue that the Japanese phrase means “I’ll leave it up to you.” What cannot be argued, however, is that Omakase dining is an absolutely fabulous culinary experience, especially for sushi lovers.

There are many players in the high-stakes world of omakase, and we're pleased as pufferfish that A-rated sushi bonanzas can be had at so many places around town. But, with a tip of the chef's cap to Morimoto Asia, Sushi Pop, Jimotti, Seito, Dragonfly, Shari and Hanamizuki, our choice for the finest "chef's choice" experience in all Orlandoland goes to Kabooki Sushi. Chef Henry Moso is a freakin' creative dynamo who spares no expense in procuring the finest seafood from around the world to style and profile for his loyal followers at Kabooki.

DARING FEATS WITH FISH--RAW, COOKED AND ROLLED‍ Ultra-fresh and -creative sushi wins raves in Orlando, and we've got the the most popular places covered.

ASIAN CLASSICS, AND SURPRISES, WITH ATTITUDE AND WITHOUT A “completely unexpected” “gem” in an “unassuming” Colonialtown strip mall, this “real-deal” Japanese uses “finesse” to craft “scintillating” sushi and Asian-fusion plates “at a decent price”; the “cute” space is “smallish”, so “reservations are almost a must.”

The city's sushi cognoscenti may not know this, but Henry Moso, arguably Orlando's most creative sushi chef, and certainly one of our best, offers omakase experiences at his perpetually hopping sushi hot spot Kabooki Sushi.