Sushi, from ‘traditional to fierce’: Johnson County food hall adds Japanese eatery

Chef Brett DeHart was excited to be returning to the area and open a Latin eatery in downtown Overland Park’s Strang Hall.

As his family was packing up to move back after seven years in Utah, he put an offer on a Lenexa house.

Then a day-and-a-half after he opened Fenix, the city announced the shelter-in-place orders for the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had been trying to get back to Kansas City. I was really happy that we opened but it was a really stressful time,” said DeHart, who has been a chef for 28 years, mostly in the Kansas City area.

But soon carryout orders took off. And with restrictions now easing, the food hall — with a large indoor dining area, seating on the “lawn” and garage doors opening during nicer weather — is bustling.

So now DeHart is expanding with another concept in Strang Hall, at 7313 W. 80th St.

Tora Zushi, which softly opened Friday, is featuring Japanese cuisine from “traditional to fierce.”

“Fierce. That’s kind of my catchphrase. There’s a lot of traditional, but like the Kobe beef burger is going to be a one-of-a-kind burger,” he said. “And even my rolls — familiar, but then there’s Dragons Eye with the jalapeno that looks like a dragon’s eye, and the East Meets Midwest with a marinated ginger steak and baked crab. We have rolls for people who are scared of sushi.”

The Strang Roll has tempura fried crab and cream cheese rolled in nori and topped with avocado, fresh tuna, minced cucumber, red tobiko, yuzu togarashi aioli, and smoked ponzu sauce.

The Kobe beef burger comes with smoked Gouda, Szechuan pickles, Chashu pork belly, and yuzu curry aioli on a brioche bun with shoestring fries. Tora Zushi also has sushi nachos, spicy crab salad and pan-fried ramen.

DeHart said his sushi master at the former Nara restaurant in the Crossroads called him Tora — Japanese for tiger. DeHart also was executive sushi chef at the former Nikko Japanese steakhouse in Overland Park, and his Nikko fried rice is a nod to that restaurant.

“It’s pretty much identical to what they served, for people who miss that restaurant,” DeHart said. “And you can pick your protein — chicken, beef, crispy tofu, Chashu pork belly or shrimp.”

This story was originally published April 20, 2021 at 5:00 AM.