Book Club Dinner Series | Uchi 1/31
Welcome to Tiny Dinners Book Club Dinner Series!
Here’s the idea: We choose a book from our collection and create a 5-course menu, prepared and served exactly as the Chef has written it. It’s a fun way to transport yourself to a new place, experiencing the flavors of a featured restaurant from the comfort of your seat.
For this series, we’re thrilled to bring you Uchi by Chef Tyson Cole.
We absolutely love this book and can’t wait to dive in with you. A lot of our inspiration comes from the opening pages, where Chef Cole highlights pantry staples like candied tomatoes, fish caramel, and fried egg purée. These components form the foundation for many of the dishes throughout the book—and some of them will definitely make their way onto our menu.
What’s most striking is how relevant the dishes still feel, even though Uchi was published nearly 15 years ago. As we flipped through the pages, we kept noting how any of these dishes would feel right at home on a menu today. They’re vibrant, creative, and full of flavor. For me, it’s a reminder of the time between the rise of modernist cuisine and the current trend of koji brines and house-made misos—when food was bold, punchy, and carried a sense of attitude.
A great example of this is in the chapter dedicated to “daily specials,” where Chef Cole shares his approach of splitting the menu in two: half the dishes are staples that guests return to again and again, while the other half changes daily, giving the kitchen a creative outlet to tweak and elevate classic Japanese dishes. We might take a page from this playbook, so don’t be surprised if you see a few dishes inspired by Uchi but with our own twist. Think of them as our "Daily Specials."
Chef Brady, who has dined at Uchi on multiple occasions, has called it “one of the best meals he’s ever had,” especially the small plates and nigiri. He appreciated how the menu was laid out, allowing guests to sample a little bit of everything Uchi has to offer.
Friday, January 31 6:30p
Join us in the dining room of Chef Shack:
1003 Lake Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506