Japanese food aficionados in search of a Westchester lunchtime treat can now take advantage of a Rye-based restaurant that recently expanded its operational hours to accommodate afternoon patrons.
OKO Rye is a Japanese-inspired restaurant under the Full House Hospitality Group brand and the second restaurant to bear the OKO name, preceded by the Westport location in Fairfield County. Full House Hospitality Group is Chef Brian Lewis”™ flagship brand, which also includes The Cottage in Westport and Greenwich.
“Being from Westchester myself, with lots of family in Rye and neighboring New Rochelle, I have always had my eyes on the beautiful town of Rye for my next location,” Lewis said.
Located in downtown Rye near the Square House Museum and City Hall, OKO Rye opened in 2019 and is run by General Manager Marissa Buster, a veteran of hospitality services in restaurant and corporate environments, Chef de Cuisine Fecedio Douglas and Executive Sushi Chef Benny Chow, a recent addition to the team. Chow has amassed 20 years of experience that includes Morimoto in Philadelphia and Nobu in New York City, as well as having previously owned Ki Asian Bistro & Sushi in Danbury.
In addition to Chow”™s arrival, the Japanese-inspired restaurant has made a change to its scheduling, expanding last month from a dinner-only venue to one that is now offering a lunch menu; the restaurant operates Tuesday through Saturday.
“Once we opened the original OKO in Westport, Connecticut, we knew that we had something very special that our guests truly loved and appreciated,” Lewis said. “The ability to replicate this model, while still allowing for the second location to have its own identity and creative juices, was key for us.”
The lunch menu is split into seven categories: nigiri sushi, sashimi, vegetable tempura, hand rolls, OKOPoke, bento boxes, and hot and cold. From the nigiri sushi category, one may dine on cedar smoked black cod, a dish that includes crispy beets and horseradish. The hot and cold category includes dishes such as shishito peppers and softshell crab tempura sando, a dish featuring miso lime aioli, cucumber kimchi and lotus chips.
OKO Rye has six varieties of hand rolls to offer guests, including spicy ora king salmon. Guests have three sashimi dishes to select from, including sashimi salad, comprised of avocado, crispy quinoa and sesame ponzu. For drinks, guests have 10 categories to choose from, including sake, wines, cocktails, soft drinks and tea.
A specialty at OKO Rye is Lychee Limeade, which is composed of lychee, lime and club soda. The drink goes well with red king crab from the nigiri sushi section, a dish crafted from red miso and yuzu citrus aioli, fresh scallion and drawn gochujang butter. While presentation may not be the first thing people look for when selecting a dish, the sushi dish nevertheless reflects the OKO Rye team”™s culinary artistry.
For a main course, one would do well to choose from the bento box category”™s four dishes, which include teriyaki chicken thighs, teriyaki king salmon, red miso maitake mushroom and Wagyu hanger steak. The latter dish has as its centerpiece Wagyu beef hanging tenderloin and, like the other bento boxes, is served with miso soup, Koshihikari rice, edamame, vegetable tempura, and garlic and ginger teriyaki sauce/miso aioli.
For dessert, patrons have a choice between waffle cone or sundae, chOKOchip cookie, matcha Kit-Kat and ooey gooey chocolate cake. The matcha Kit-Kat plate comes with two Kit-Kat wafer bars covered in ceremony grade matcha and white chocolate. A more voluminous dessert to cap off a meal would be the ooey gooey chocolate cake, filled with vanilla bean pastry cream and flanked by black and white sesame praline, along with a vanilla bean ice cream to the side.
