‘The steak is the star’ at Chef Sonny Nguyen’s new Gyukatsu Rose restaurant
Small Foods Group, the restaurant company behind popular ramen eatery Domu, has added an eighth restaurant.
Gyukatsu Rose — named for Chef Sonny Nguyen’s daughter Harlee Rose — will stage its soft opening at East End Market this week, Jan. 16-19 from 4-9 p.m.
With only eight seats, Gyukatsu Rose will likely stay full when it's open, as pairs will be seated whenever the previous diners vacate their spots. The restaurant will only take walk-ins, to allow for equal opportunity dining — which is typical for Nguyen’s ventures.
Ricky Ly, a food blogger with vast knowledge of the local food scene, is elated by Chef Ngyun’s food journey. “He keeps taking from his experiences and travels and joys and making new things and evolving them for us here in Orlando. It’s the story of Orlando.”
This is Nguyen’s third concept for Audubon Park’s East End Market — one he wanted to launch much sooner but was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The concept will be unique within the Orlando food scene. The restaurant will offer a single meal: A lightly breaded and flash-fried wagyu cutlet, served sliced and rare with barley rice, suimono soup, cabbage salad, potato salad, house made pickles, onion sauce, house made soy sauce and fresh wasabi.
A single portion is $29, and if you want to double the meat, you’ll pay $48. Five sakes, two beers, Mexican Coke in a glass bottle and green tea will be on hand as options to drink. Dessert-to-go, as it's dubbed on the menu, is matcha pudding, a reintroduction of a dish that was served at Domu in 2016.
Lest anyone think the menu is too pared down, Marketing Director and Social Media Manager Mabel Salazar explained there’s still some variety in the mix. "Every bite is going to be different if you choose a different combo of sauces and condiments," she said.
Ly raved, “The steak is the star. It’s really a choose-your-own-adventure experience, where you can sear your steak or season it to your liking with salt, wasabi, shimi pepper or the sauces they have on hand,” he said. “It shows some of the very interesting elements of a traditional Japanese kaiseki meal that Chef Sonny was trained in by a master Japanese chef.”
Salazar said Gyukatsu Rose will eventually offer tuna steak. Also, on some nights when Gyukatsu Rose is closed, “we will partner with local chefs for pop-up dinners or serve tasting menus.”
Further, Small Foods Group is expanding its operations with a new executive office space.
The management team, consisting of six people, will soon have a dedicated office space located near the intersection of Colonial Drive and Goldenrod Road — which Salazar said is ideal because it is centrally located between the group’s restaurants in Waterford Lakes and Mills 50 East.
“It will be a nice place to call our home base, because technically none of us have had a real office,” she said. "We have sometimes used the upstairs storage space at East End and we’ve been having meetings all over town, wherever someone we know can offer space, but it'll be nice to have our own space.”
In addition to Gyukatsu Rose, Small Foods Group includes three Domu locations, Chibi, Tori Tori, Edoboy and Rion's Ocean Room, totaling eight restaurants. Gyukatsu Rose shares a vendor space with Rion's Ocean Room, and many employees work for both spots, which Salazar said creates a family-like atmosphere.
East End Market is in the Audubon Park Garden District. The address is 3201 Corrine Dr., which is just northeast of downtown Orlando. This area is known for its eclectic, vibrant community and focus on local businesses, making it a popular spot for foodies and shoppers alike.
