Robin Anthony, chef and owner of Prime Fish in Ballantyne, is self-taught in the art of sushi. That hasn’t stopped his restaurant from earning the reputation of best sushi spot in the area. The restaurant’s monthly omakase menu, a multi-course chef’s choice service, sells out months in advance. It’s been so successful, in fact, that Prime Fish is opening a second location that will only serve omakase, called Omakase: An Experience by Prime Fish.

The restaurant will be near the former Block & Grinder space in the center at Providence Road and Sharon Lane. Service will be a traditional 16-course meal priced at $250 to $300, depending upon inflation at the time of its anticipated May opening. Sake pairings will eventually be available as an add-on, with sake by the wine and bottle available at opening. There will be two seatings per night for six guests each, though the restaurant can seat eight. 

“The reason we decided to open the second one is because we need a place for special omakase-style sushi,” Anthony says. “Omakase is chef’s choice, so in that place it will be, it has no menu. Everything is up to the chef. And we do have a lot of customers who are waiting for that.”

Prime Fish in Ballantyne’s omakase dates are currently sold out through the end of April. 

Before opening Prime Fish, Anthony was a sushi chef at Red Sake and Yama Waverly. He learned many of his skills by watching tutorials on YouTube and traveling to Michelin-starred sushi restaurants and trying to recreate some of the sushi he sampled there; a favorite is Shion 69 Leonard Street in New York. He opened Prime Fish in May 2021, choosing Ballantyne to remain close to his regular customers.

“​​It was time for me to own my own restaurant, so that’s why we decided to open Prime Fish,” he says, despite the pandemic. 

The restaurant rapidly earned a following of sushi enthusiasts for its fresh, well-sourced, and well-cut sushi offerings. When Omakase opens, Anthony will be primarily there during its Tuesday through Saturday service, spending Sundays at Prime Fish. The new restaurant will serve takeaway sushi during lunch to make its food more accessible to those who can’t attend the Omakase experience.

“Whatever we do here is not only about us, it’s about the community,” Anthony says. “We want to make Charlotte people proud about us. We want to make Charlotte people proud that we have sushi that’s equal with New York and L.A.”

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