by Kristen Wile

A new concept from James Beard finalist chef Sam Hart is coming to Uptown. The Counter- and Biblio co-owner will open food stall Maneki with a new hospitality group: Irreverently Refined Hospitality, which comes from Hart, Audra Harman, and two partners. Maneki will take the space of Fujiyama in what has long been known as Latta Arcade, recently rebranded as The Alley. The restaurant’s menu will center around traditional robatayaki cooking, and serve a limited selection of skewers and sides inspired by the traditional Japanese method of cooking.

Chef Kenny Do, longtime chef de cuisine of Bardo, will run the kitchen. Do joined the Counter- team following Bardo’s closure. He will travel to Hokkaido, Japan for a month before the restaurant opens to study the cooking techniques there. Robata is a style of live-fire cooking popular in the country; Maneki will have a custom charcoal Konro grill in the space. The grill temperature reaches up to 1,600 degrees, creating food with a crispy, charred exterior that isn’t overcooked. Skewers will be priced from $3-$5, and despite Counter-’s modern bent, Hart says the food stall will stay traditional.

“It’s going to be the way that it was originally intended, so the protein plus a salt of some kind, whether that’s tare or soy or miso, and then it might come with a lime wedge or freshly grated wasabi,” Hart says. “It’s super simple.”

While the dishes may seem simple, an array of 12 tares — base sauces — will lend unique flavors and depth to the various skewers. The entire menu will be served during opening hours. According to Hart, the idea for the restaurant came in part because of the difficulty in finding late-night cuisine in Charlotte. Maneki will be open until 2 a.m.

“We built it because I want to be able to go to a place that has good food late at night when I’m off work,” Hart says. “And right now there’s not much. So it’s something that honestly all the team is really excited about as well, because we get to support it and eat there afterwards as well.” 

The restaurant will also host an abbreviated omakase experience at a four-seat chef’s counter. The 45-minute meal will include a flight of skewers, as well as dessert, with four reservations available per each of the five seatings available between 6 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., with the latest reservations geared toward an industry crowd.

“The food itself, if you were to put it on fine china on a white tablecloth table and have a server with white gloves do it, I think it would be considered fine dining,” Hart says. “But we just happen to be in a 475-square-foot stall with a bunch of crazy decor all around it and a grill in the center of the space.”

Hart says he hopes Maneki, named for the iconic Japanese welcome cat, will open in March 2024; Do will focus on finalizing the menu in the coming months.

“He’s taking a very high level, fine dining approach to making one of the oldest versions of street food that exists while still making sure that we’re holding true and honoring the tradition of how it’s cooked,” Hart says.