OKO, a Japanese-focused restaurant, coming to Westport

OKO, the latest restaurant project of Chef Brian Lewis, is scheduled to open April 19 in Westport.

The restaurant will feature a menu inspired by Japanese cuisine, the award-winning chef said.

OKO, located at 6 Wilton Road, is Lewis’s second Westport-based eatery, preceded by The Cottage at 256 Post Road East. The red brick building on Wilton Road was formerly the home of restaurants De Rosa”™s Brick Oven Pizza and Neat, and prior to that served as a firehouse for the Vigilant Hose Company. 

The name OKO comes from okonomiyaki, “a savory, Japanese pancake filled with seasonally-inspired ingredients,” Lewis said in a recent statement.

The chef noted he test-marketed the name OKO at his home. In an Instagram post, he stated, “Truth be told, once my four-year-old twin boys ”“ Jude and Jax were asked how they felt about the name OKO, they screamed it all day long”¦.it was a natural fit!”’

Prior to The Cottage, Lewis operated a popular New Canaan restaurant, The Elm. Along the way Lewis has been praised by food critics at publications including the NY Times and Esquire. He was nominated for the 2018 James Beard Award for outstanding chef in the northeast.