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Castellucci Hospitality Group will open Japanese supper club Koshu Club at 99 West Paces in Buckhead, across from the St. Regis.
Opening in early 2026, Koshu Club takes inspiration from foods made popular during Japan’s Shōwa era, offering a fusion of Western dishes (yoshoku) and traditional Japanese cuisine (washoku).
At 40 seats, Koshu Club is described as intimate fine dining with an a la carte menu of composed and grilled Japanese seafood, meat, and vegetable dishes.
Koshu Club opens early 2026 in Buckhead. (Courtesy of Andrew Thomas Lee)
It’s been nearly four years since the debut of Mujo, the Michelin-starred omakase restaurant backed by the Castellucci Hospitality Group. Now, its chef, J. Trent Harris, and the Castellucci family will follow up on Mujo’s success with Koshu Club in Buckhead.
Opening in early 2026 at the 99 West Paces building, Koshu Club takes inspiration from Japan’s Shōwa-era cuisine, often a fusion of Western foods (yoshoku) and traditional Japanese dishes (washoku).
You’re likely already familiar with yoshoku dishes, including omurice (omelet rice), karaage (Japanese fried chicken), tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet), and korokke, a Japanese-style croquette occasionally served atop noodles.
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“Jordan [J. Trent] and I had the idea for this restaurant shortly after we opened Mujo,” the group’s President and CEO, Fred Castellucci, told Rough Draft. “We had a clear vision for Mujo as an omakase restaurant, but we wanted to do an a la carte restaurant in line with Japanese tradition, but breaking from it a bit.”
The rise of yoshoku dishes during the Shōwa era (1926–1989) led to a proliferation of restaurants, market stalls, and supper clubs in Japan that highlighted Western-influenced cooking fused with traditional Japanese dishes. The explosion of culinary experimentation seen during the period fit the bill for what Harris and Castellucci want to achieve with the new restaurant.
At just 40 seats, like Mujo, Koshu Club will offer an intimate dining experience, one Castellucci calls fine dining with flexibility.
Harris has worked on and off as a sushi chef and in Japanese restaurants for more than 20 years, including at Suzume and Shuko in New York City, and under master sushi chef Masaki Saito at Sushi Ginza Onodera in Tokyo. He also worked briefly in China, and led the kitchen at a Michelin-starred Portuguese restaurant in New York City.
“Sushi is my passion, but I love opportunities where I can learn and grow as a chef and try my hand at other cuisines,” said Harris. “Japanese cuisine is not a monolith. There’s a lot of influences from other cuisines and cultures in the country, and they do a very good job of taking elements from those influences and making them very Japanese.”
Harris will lead the kitchen at Koshu Club with Keith Miller as his chef de cuisine. They’re planning a compact menu of around 14 dishes. Rather than literal interpretations of yoshoku foods, Harris and Miller will lean into specific cooking styles to allow for experimentation, while also channeling the vibe and menus of mid-century supper clubs.
For Koshu Club, that means sumibiyaki (meat, seafood, and vegetables slow-grilled over binchōtan charcoal), along with sashimi options and other Japanese and yoshoku-style small plates.
“The menu will be a mixture of washoku, very traditional dishes, as well as modern Japanese food, which is much more globally influenced,” Harris said. “I want to really structure [Koshu Club] almost like a micro steakhouse menu, with a selection of small plates where you pick a protein to be grilled over charcoal, pick a sauce to go with it, and then pick some sides. It allows people to build the meal they want.”
Hata sakemushi, kombu, bell pepper, peas, blanquette, and chive oil. (Courtesy of Andrew Thomas Lee)
Expect cocktails using Japanese ingredients and spirits, including Japanese gin and whisky. Koshu Club will also feature a deep selection of sake and wine behind the bar. Castellucci had a wine cellar intentionally built into the restaurant’s design.
The bar is an integral part of the experience at Koshu Club. In Japanese, “koshu” [KOH-shoo] refers to both a white wine grape variety grown in Japan and aged sake.
“The club element of the name infers the intimacy and energy we look to create, as well as a nod to Western influences, part of the yoshoku-style of Japanese cuisine,” Castellucci explained.
To achieve the intimacy they’re after at Koshu Club, Smith Hanes Studio will design a serene space that should evoke the “quiet elegance of mid-century Japan.” Castellucci and his team will then heighten the experience through music, lighting, and even the orientation of seating.
Koshu Club should feel sophisticated and special, Castellucci insisted, but not restrained or stuffy, and with just enough high energy that you’re comfortable holding lively conversations during dinner.
“It’s an extremely intimate a la carte, fine dining restaurant where you can be more flexible with what you’re ordering,” Castellucci said. “We want it to be fun, but also a la carte and small to showcase other elements of Japanese food, like the yoshoku dishes, alongside more traditional Japanese cuisine, outside of sushi.”
Koshu Club, 99 West Paces Ferry Road, Buckhead. Opening between late February and early March 2026.
AloJapan.com