Hear more about Pavilion from Bognar on the Arch Eats podcast.
Acclaimed chef Nick Bognar is ready to launch what he’s calling his most ambitious effort to date: Pavilion, a multi-course omakase experience located in a separate, private dining room at sister restaurant Sado, opens December 5.
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Pavillion is the dining experience that Bognar has been wanting to give guests since he first returned to St. Louis in 2017. Diners have seen glimmers of the concept throughout all of Bognar’s work over the past seven years—at his parents former restaurant, Nippon Tei, where he elevated the sushi offerings; at Indo, where he briefly offered an omakase experience; at Sado, where he demonstrates his command of his craft and offers breathtakingly fresh fish beyond our landlocked imaginations. All of this, according to Bognar, has been preparing him for this exact moment.
“This is the restaurant I have been wanting to open for many years,” says Bognar. “I’m so excited that it is finally happening.”
Pavilion offers two seatings on Thursday through Sunday evenings at 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Reservations, offered through Resy, will open every other Monday at 11 a.m. (The next reservation release date is December 16. As the first rounds of reservations sold out within minutes, diners are encouraged to plan in advance and be ready to book at 11 a.m. sharp in order to snag a seat to what is sure to be the hottest ticket in town.) Bognar plans to add additional service dates and small-table seating tickets at a future date.
Here’s a sneak peek of what to expect.
The Concept
Pavillion is best described as an omakase experience—a way of dining that roughly translates to “I’ll leave it to you,” in which guests embark on a multi-course adventure determined by the chef. Guests can expect nigiri, sashimi, and dishes inspired by Bognar’s Thai heritage that center around seasonal ingredients and the availability of premium fish imported from Japan.
At Pavilion, Bognar will continue to showcase the extensive dry-aged fish program that he developed at Sado. “Japanese chefs have been aging fish for a long time,” Bognar previously told SLM. “The process changes the mouthfeel and texture, especially for sushi. Dry-aged fish has less moisture, so the fats and flavors are concentrated. There’s a slight chewiness, and then it melts and it’s gone.”
Pavilion guests can also expect Bognar’s continued use of white binchotan charcoal, known for its super-high heat and ability to impart a quick, glass-like sear and a delicate smoke flavor in a short amount of time. “But you do have to dry-age the fish first,” Bognar notes, “in order to get that crunchy, puffy, chicharrón-like skin that’s so important.”
The Pavilion experience caters to a range of customers. On select evenings, Bognar will lead the service, curating an elevated omakase for $250 per person. On other nights, a more casual $175 per person option provides an opportunity for the chefs at Sado who trained under Bognar to take center stage. Veteran pastry chef Sarah Osborn, who leads the dessert programs at sister restaurants indo and Sado, will do so at Pavilion as well. Sake and wine pairings and a limited beverage menu are available at an additional cost.
After entering the room, diners are seated at the sushi bar and greeted by Bognar and a server, who takes drink orders. Though the full Sado bar menu is available, diners are encouraged to select from a small list of wine, beer, and sake offerings that pair well with the dishes being served that evening.
A typical dinner at Pavillion consists of 18 courses, with each served at a time. As Bognar completes a piece of nigiri, he places it on one diner’s plate and then begins working on the next one, going down the line until all six are served. As Bognar explains, the dishes are meant to be enjoyed the moment they hit the plate, so diners are encouraged to eat each course right away rather than waiting for everyone to be served.
Pavillion’s menu will change based on what is available. During an event shortly before the official opening, Bognar offered a preview, with a shortened, 14-course menu consisting of the following dishes:
- A riff on Indonesian laksa (noodle soup) crowned with butter-poached dry-aged ocean trout and accented with Okinawan sweet potatoes, leeks and shiitakes. The star of the dish was the luxurious broth, Bognar’s grandmother’s secret concoction made with crab fat, curry paste, and warm spices.
- Cold-smoked Hokkaido diver scallop nigiri
- Goldeneye snapper nigiri
- Rosy throated sea perch nigiri
- Dry-aged wild-caught hamachi served over a sauce of cucumber, mint, Thai basil, fermented fish sauce, palm syrup and lime, garnished with toasted sunflower seeds and fresh gooseberries
- Shima-aji (a fish in the mackerel family) nigiri
- Yuzu-marinated Japanese mackerel nigiri accented with scallion oil
- Japanese sardine served on iwashi toast
- Lean bluefin tuna nigiri
- Medium fatty bluefin tuna
- Fatty bluefin tuna (otoro)
- A-5 Wagyu glazed with lime and sweet chili
- Grilled king madai
- Two-day cured foie gras with aged maple soy and candied quinoa
- A dessert course of lemon balm sorbet, candied sesame, ginger and shiso leaf and plum frozen glass
- For drinks, Bognar and his team offered a Cava from Spain, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Southern Australia, Shiokawa “Nopa” Junmai sake, Asahi beer, and soft drinks.
The Space
Designed by St. Louis–based architecture and design firm Tao + Lee, Pavilion offers an exclusive dining experience in Sado’s rear courtyard.
Diners enter through Sado’s main entrance, then are escorted to Pavillion by one of two ways: a walkway that goes through the main dining room and alongside a glass-enclosed courtyard or—Bognar’s preferred route—through the kitchen. Once inside, guests are struck by the warm wood paneling on both the walls and ceiling, and a floor-to-ceiling glass wall that gives a lovely framed view of the Japanese garden-inspired courtyard. The room is quite intimate, with space for just six guests at the curved marble-topped sushi counter. (For private gatherings, Bognar can accommodate a small number of additional guests.) The room is minimally decorated with a few wooden shelves that contain different serving vessels, and a gorgeous black Japanese credenza along one wall.
The experience has a dreamlike feel; Pavillion diners can see into Sado’s dining room and vice-versa through the windows and across the courtyard. However, the scenes are quite muted because of the glass and low-lighting, which gives Pavillion a mystique that underscores the entire event.
Bognar says the space can also be utilized for private parties, pop-ups, and chef collaborations.
The Background
Pavilion arrives on the heels of Sado’s James Beard Award nomination for “Best New Restaurant,” another crest in a wave of successes that Bognar has been riding since moving back to St. Louis after honing his culinary skills at the acclaimed Uchiko in Austin, Texas, as well as at a sushi restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio. Upon returning, Bognar helped his parents breathe new life into Nippon Tei, where Bognar quickly set the standard for sushi excellence in the area before garnering critical acclaim for his skill and passion for Japanese cuisine and earning a James Beard Award nod for “Rising Star Chef of the Year” in 2019. Later that year, Bognar parlayed his success into his debut restaurant, indo. It received numerous national accolades, including from Esquire, Food & Wine, GQ, and the James Beard Foundation. Sado has also been in the national spotlight since opening last March, though the addition of Pavilion will make it even more of a powerhouse.
“Pavilion will function as an extension of Sado and create a space that combines the Thai influence of my familial heritage woven into the well-practiced Japanese sushi techniques that I feel most passionate about,” Bognar said previously. “This will be the most ambitious thing I’ve ever done in terms of creativity and precision, while also using this as a space to experiment.”
For Bognar, the new venture is not just about delivering exceptional food but also about creating a dining experience that feels personal and meaningful. “I know the level of quality and precision required for a memorable omakase experience,” he said in a recent press release, “and I intend for each person who dines at Pavilion to walk away feeling like they got to know me and my cooking.”
And indeed, Bognar’s passion is on full display at Pavlion in a way that feels like he’s operating at the apex of his craft. This is a talented chef—and by extension a dining experience—unrestrained by things like easily available ingredients, price point, ticket times or business volume. At Pavillion, Bognar gets the absolute best fish that is possible to get. He prepares it with an intention that can only come when serving such a small group. He is able to be both chef and storyteller so that the diner has a fully immersive and complete experience.
It may be the restaurant he’s fantasized about opening all these years, but a meal here is a diner’s dream come true as well.
