Foodie + Tina, the omakase project from Austin chefs Becca Seiler and Spencer Brown, is trading its tucked-away garden setting for the bustle of South Lamar with a new takeaway sushi counter. The compact, 800-square-foot spot is set to offer omakase boxes, rice bowls, and hand rolls, plus a small standing bar and shelves lined with their prepared goods.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, the storefront at 2153 South Lamar Blvd will operate daily from late morning through early evening and will feature an omakase box with 10 pieces of nigiri along with a chef ’s-choice roll. The outlet also notes that the counter will include a slim standing bar where chefs finish hand rolls directly for guests, giving South Lamar a bit of that intimate omakase theater without the usual formality.
From Garden Dinners To A Counter
Seiler and Brown built Foodie + Tina as a 10-seat omakase hidden inside a working market garden and have hosted multi-course, garden-forward dinners built around small groups. The Central Texas Food Bank listed one of those al-fresco 14-course O-Inari dinners and highlighted the pair's emphasis on garden produce and sustainably sourced fish, underscoring the farm-to-sushi angle that made the project a quiet local obsession.
Sourcing And Technique
Per the Austin American-Statesman, the duo will source domestically and from small-scale fisheries, leaning on Gulf fish from Texas waters when possible and selectively importing items from Japan. Much of the seafood will be processed using the ike jime method, a precision technique prized for both quality and sustainability. The same report notes that shelves will be stocked with prepared goods like tomato jam, a mushroom- and seed-based furikake, and a toasted nori salsa macha, while hand rolls may be finished with Texas persimmon miso or wasabi butter. The paper also notes that the couple plan to keep their garden omakase dinners going on a monthly basis even after the South Lamar counter opens.
Where This Fits In Austin's Scene
The South Lamar counter lands in the middle of a broader shift toward walk-up sushi spots and “casual luxe” formats that aim to keep top-tier sourcing and technique without the white-tablecloth energy. That evolution was recently highlighted in a look at Austin's sushi scene, where walk-in counters crash the omakase party. For Austinites, Foodie + Tina's move should make their garden-informed omakase style far easier to access on a weekday lunch break or a quick early dinner stop on South Lamar.
