CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia’s first and only sake brewery has a new complimentary dining experience – but it’s is booked until November.

Led by Chef Yoshihiro Tauchi, Sanga Omakase is a multi-course dining experience where the menu is rewritten based on Tauchi’s inspiration and the freshest ingredients available. It launches Thursday.

Omakase is a Japanese phrase that translates to, “I’ll leave it up to you.” In addition to being a family name of Tauchi and his wife Yukiko, the Sanga name in Japanese means “mountains and rivers,” which connects to Tauchi’s principle of anbai – balance in every decision.

Reservations for the $150-a-person price fixe seatings opened on Aug. 19 and in less than two days, Sanga Omakase had booked through October.

There are three components of Sanga Omakase that Andrew Centofante, owner of North American Sake Brewery and Bad Luck Ramen, said will make their collaboration a special experience.

“We have really special ingredients here like koji and kasu that Chef Tauchi has been incorporating very deeply into the cuisine at Sanga,” Centofante told CvilleRightNow.com. “Those are very unique ingredients that you can only really find at a sake brewery.”

In addition to the sake-based ingredients, Tauchi will embrace a dry-aged fish program where it removes the moisture of the fish and as Tauchi said, is “a very classic style towards sushi and sashimi.”

“Sometime one week, sometime two week dry aged more delicious,” Tauchi said.

When the dry aged fish is combined with the koji and kasu, Tauchi said to get ready for an “umami taste.”

Tauchi’s sushi journey did not start in Japan, but instead, New York City as a fish wholesaler. It was Take-san, a master chef enveloped in Japan’s traditions, who served as a mentor to Tauchi in the discipline of sushi. From there, Tauchi traveled to Washington D.C., then Charlottesville as part of the opening team for TEN restaurant and helped build its sushi identity to what it’s known for today. In 2024, Tauchi was the mind behind Omakase Obscura, an intimate sushi experience similar to what Sanga Omakase will offer. Omakase Obscura closed in February. 

In May, Tauchi joined Bad Luck Ramen as executive chef and since then, Tauchi and his wife, Yukiko, who also joined the staff, have looked at every aspect of the restaurant’s menu and rolled out a new sushi menu.

Tauchi has lived in the United States of America for almost 43 years, and 28 of them have been in Charlottesville.

“Charlottesville becomes second hometown, so I want more people to enjoy sushi. (It is) important. That’s why I stay here,” Tauchi told CvilleRightNow.com.

Sanga Omakase is located inside North American Sake Brewery, which opened in 2018 at IX Art Park. Guests can experience countertop service opposite Tauchi as he prepares and serves the meal. There are six forest green chairs, behind a forest green velvet rope. Communal conversation is encouraged as customers experience the guided sushi tasting with an optional curated sake pairing provided by North American Sake Brewery.

The Sanga Omakase team are looking at November and December for future reservations, those interested can keep an eye on their website https://www.sangaomakase.com/

Should you try this experience? “I’ll leave it up to you.”