Innovations abound at Poke Munch, opening in Creve Coeur later this month

It’s one thing to take the poke trend and ride the wave. It’s another to create some ripples of your own. Nadeem Hosseini chose the latter.

In 2016, Hosseini sold his interest in Zipcare Transportation (a non-emergency medical transportation company that makes 8,000 trips per month) to seek out “something less stressful.” Ironically, he chose the restaurant business.

Hosseini decided to capitalize on the popular poke trend and hedged his bet by opening a shop in an area devoid of one: Creve Coeur, a chain-filled suburb that’s “just coming into its own culinarily,” he says.

Poke Munch is located at 630 N. New Ballas, across the street from another suburban newcomer, Gioia’s Deli. Hosseini’s new restaurant is expected to open by the end of September.

“It took a while to find the right location, and then there was a series of delays building it out,” says Hosseini, who’d initially hoped to open by Memorial Day. “The good news: It gave us extra time to develop menu items and discover innovations we may not otherwise have had time for.”

The most obvious embellishment is the use of triangular Nanoleaf light panels to create a series of modular “fish lights” on the face of the order counter. The LED system can be programmed to pulsate and dance, turning music—or even ambient noise—into light. When the restaurant is quiet, so are the fish; when it gets lively, the fish follow suit. A self-proclaimed tech guy, Hosseini is using Nanoleaf to distinguish his restaurant by what some will consider a standalone attraction.

Behind the counter are large panels of white “fish scale”–style tile by designer Ted Baker. Maintaining the water theme, the main and beverage counters are wavy, live-edge cedar planks. 

The menu is presented on 55-inch curved digital panels, installed vertically. To familiarize diners with what might be an unfamiliar concept, items continuously scroll to the top position, at which point a photo appears, along with a description and the dish’s nutritional information.

The floor is finished with gray-white swirls of metallic sheen epoxy, “the strongest, most scratch-resistant product on the market,” according to manufacturer Leggari. Poke Munch is the first restaurant in St. Louis to use the application.

Innovation even carries through to the restrooms, where hands are dried by super-small and super-quiet Dyson Airblade V hand dryers.

Poke Munch will serve the Stubborn Soda line of carbonated beverages. Owned by Pepsico, the craft brand is made with fair trade–certified cane sugar and without artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners. Stubborn also contains 40 percent fewer calories than mainstream brands.

Poke Munch’s tagline is the familiar “roll it or bowl it,” offering two options for traditional poke. For the roll, Hosseini invested in a machine that stamps perfectly even portions of rice onto thin sheets of nori. The press is made by Suzumo, a well-known Japanese manufacturer of sushi roll “robots.” Had Hosseini not opted to serve giant poke rolls, the machine would have rolled them as well.

Hosseini promises “poke with a Midwestern twist,” which means non-fish items will also be on the menu. Soy-marinated fried chicken tenders, for example, became a popular item during menu testing.

Chef James Choi, a sushi chef with 25 years of experience in Japanese food, leads the kitchen. Having moved here from Chicago, he’s been on board for six months, creating and perfecting menu items.

Besides vegan and gluten-free options, Choi will present a poke burger (with tempura rice cakes as the bun), and maybe even poke toast (using a similar rice “krispie” as the bread component), as well as tofu fries. There will also be halal options. “So many times, Muslims get relegated to Mediterranean restaurants,” Hosseini says. “Now they have another option.” And in the cold months, he says to expect Choi’s kitchen sink version of ramen that’s unlike any other in town.

“Poke is poke,” Hosseini adds, “but there is always room to do things that haven’t been done before.”