Photo: Sushi by Scratch.

PARK CITY, Utah — Serious sushi lovers, this is for you. Sushi by Scratch Restaurants: Park City, the omakase concept from chef-restaurateurs Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee, recently opened inside Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, and it may be unlike any sushi experience you have had before.

The intimate restaurant seats just 10 guests at a time, with three nightly seatings offered Wednesday through Sunday. For a limited time, Utah residents can have the full experience with a special locals’ rate. Head sushi chef Josh Schrader, a Utah native who has spent nearly two decades honing his craft, said the concept is designed around one guiding principle: elevation.

“It’s a newer concept in the sushi realm, but definitely this is one of the first omakase restaurants in Utah,” Schrader said. “It’s an elevated experience.”

Guests are welcomed into a reception area 30 minutes before their reservation, where complimentary appetizer bites and a welcome beverage set the tone for the meal ahead. The experience then moves into the sushi room for 17 courses served over roughly an hour and a half.

The menu is set, but the experience is carefully choreographed from first bite to last.

“We start with lighter flavors, lighter textures, and then develop richness as we go throughout the courses,” Schrader said.

Lee has six signature dishes that remain constant, including hamachi with corn pudding and sourdough bread crumbs, as well as preparations featuring unagi, bone marrow and toro. Beyond those anchors, Schrader said the rest of the menu is his to shape, and he is encouraged to experiment with seasonal ingredients and original flavor combinations.

“Instead of just combining flavors, we’re creating flavors as well,” Schrader said.

The team places equal emphasis on what goes on top of the fish as on the fish itself. Bluefin tuna is sourced from Spain or Mexico, and the kitchen incorporates locally sourced honey, edible flowers and other regional ingredients for presentation. The restaurant also brews its own soy sauce and mills its own rice from scratch, starting with brown rice and removing the outer husk to reach the white kernel.

“Everyone tries to have the freshest fish, the best fish they can possibly have,” Schrader said. “So what sets us apart is we like to elevate everything else so that the taste that comes along with the fish is also top-shelf ingredients.”

The progression of the 17 courses is intentional, beginning with lighter flavors and textures before building toward richer, more complex bites. The meal concludes with a dessert course paired with a farewell beverage.

Schrader’s path to omakase is a distinctly Utah story. A lifelong skier and snowboarder who grew up in Utah County, he took a job flipping burgers at a ski resort early in his career just to afford a season pass. Dissatisfied with what he was learning, he challenged himself to take on something more demanding next and applied for a sushi position.

“18 years later, I’m still learning,” Schrader said. “It’s definitely one of those things that if you think you know everything, you’re completely fooling yourself.”

He spent eight years making sushi in Lake Tahoe before returning to Salt Lake City, where he worked at Takashi and Yuki Yama before joiningSushi by Scratch Restaurants: Park City. Training took him to Denver before his Grand Hyatt assignment, and he said the hotel’s support has been above and beyond.

Sushi by Scratch Restaurants: Park City at Grand Hyatt Deer Valley operates Wednesday through Sunday with three seatings per day. Through a locals’ discount, Utah residents can save $50 off the experience with a valid ID. Reservations are required.

Book your experience here