An Overland Park cafe space will soon trade sweets for sushi.
Last fall, longtime eatery and sweets shop André’s Confiserie (known primarily for its Swiss chocolates) closed its doors in Overland Park. At the time, the family-owned brand had operated their Overland Park space for roughly 25 years.
Soon, the doors to that space will reopen. But this time, instead of peering into cases of chocolates at the counter, customers will sit at the bar and watch fresh fish turn into hand rolls.
Later this fall, popular Kansas City sushi spot Kata Nori will open their first Johnson County location in Overland Park.
Kata Nori is coming to 4929 W. 119th St.
- The restaurant is taking over a space at the Hawthorne Plaza shopping center, just off 119th Street and Roe Avenue in Overland Park.
- There, it will operate near Summer Salt Ice Cream Co. and breakfast eatery Urban Egg at the shopping center.
- Regular hours for the new spot are still being finalized.
Kata Nori offers a “face-to-face” sushi experience
The restaurant is known, far and away, for its nori-wrapped hand rolls — which customers sit at the counter and enjoy immediately after watching the chef roll them.
“We serve our hand rolls one roll at a time at the sushi counter,” said co-owner Nam Phan, “with premium grade seaweed that has a nice crunch to it.”
Kata Nori’s rolls, as well as its sashimi and crudo (raw) seafood dishes, use seafood air-shipped fresh from overseas.
“We fly fish in from Japan,” Phan said. “We go pick it up at the airport two or three times a week.”
In addition to sushi, Kata Nori also serves a variety of craft cocktails, such as lychee martinis and yuzu whiskey sours.
While the Crossroads location is entirely a sushi bar, the new Overland Park location will also offer some table seating in addition to the counter, plus some new cooked entrees for people looking for something else besides sushi.
Aside from those differences, though, Phan said the Kata Nori experience in Overland Park will be the same one that customers know and love on the other side of the state line.
“We are planning on keeping things consistent,” he said.
This marks the first Kata Nori in Johnson County
Owners Nam Phan, Kyung Kim and Anh Pham opened Kata Nori’s flagship location three years ago, in Kansas City, Missouri’s Crossroads district.
At the time, Phan said, the team aimed to bring something to their own hometown that they’d often enjoyed on their travel: an intimate and high-quality, yet approachable sushi spot.
“It was about three things; good sushi, connecting people, and love for Kansas City,” he said. “It came from (the question) of, why can’t we have really good food in a relaxed environment?”
Since opening Kata Nori in the Crossroads, Phan said, many Johnson Countians have sat at the bar.
“We learned that a lot of our guests are from Overland Park and Leawood,” he said. “We basically sensed a demand over there.”
It’s not just the sushi that’s been a draw, Phan said; it’s also the chance for customers to experience something new with one another, whether they’re there with a group of friends or a first date. That’s something the Kata Nori team hopes to continue in Overland Park.
“We really care about the actual connections that people are making with each other when they’re here, the connection we are making with our guests who will become regulars,” he said. “That’s really important for us.”
Want more food and drink news? Popular Mediterranean eatery keeps growing in JoCo, with 3 new locations in the works
