In mid-May, the FiDi Hotel in New York City got a new sushi restaurant—the latest outpost of the growing Sushi by Bou brand, which is taking advantage of underused spaces in hotels to generate revenue and create a unique experience for guests and locals.
Erika London founded Sushi by Bou nine years ago as what she calls a “passion project.” She and partner Michael Sinensky had owned and operated a number of sports bars and nightclubs, she recalled, but a sushi restaurant had always been a dream. Once they met chef David Bouhadana, that dream became achievable.
Looking for venues to open their first property, they found an unused luggage closet at New York City’s Sanctuary Hotel and turned the 300-square-foot closet into a speakeasy omakase restaurant with eight seats. That first property remains one of the brand’s top performers, London said.
Since that opening, the brand has grown to 24 restaurants worldwide, with eight in New York and four of those in New York City. Many of these properties, London said, are adapted from unused spaces within hotels—sometimes literally hidden away down secret corridors. “We take underutilized spaces and we curate them with these unique, attention-grabbing and revenue-generating food-and-beverage experiences, so we become an amenity for their guests—and also a destination for the local community.” Partnering with hotels offers benefits “in terms of customer acquisition and exposure,” she added.
Notably, London said the restaurants do not have traditional lease agreements with their partner restaurants, so they do not pay traditional rent. “Depending on on the structure, it's either profit share or gross revenue percentage, versus the standalone locations where it's a more traditional rent structure.”
Unique Aesthetics
All of the resataurants are in upscale and luxury hotels, which London says aligns with the brand’s style. “We're looking at [hotels that] are very intentional and thoughtful about the F&B partners that they're working with,” she said. “Those are the types of partners that we seek, because they're putting the work in to align the F&B partners on site so that they all mesh well together.” And after more than 20 openings, London said the company is now being brought in for hotel developments in the early stages, rather than adapting unused spaces.
The company uses several design firms to create each space, London added, noting that the designers must understand the brand’s “mission” and the experience the team wants to convey. And while the menu at each property stays the same, that experience is meant to be unique from venue to venue.
Each establishment has its own aesthetic, London said, which encourages fans to visit different properties and see what eash has to offer. “The hotel sets the tone, and then we play off of that.” The new restaurant at the FiDi Hotel has pop art to match the hotel’s vibe, for example, while the Salt Lake City restaurant has a 1920s style to go with the historic building. The Sushi by Bou at the W Hotel in Hoboken, N.J., has pastel colors to fit its 1990s-inspired hip-hop aesthetic—“but in a very upscale, elegant, chic, way that complements the hotel.” Most of the brand’s locations take up less than 1,000 square feet with a counter of between 12 and 16 feet, she added.
Next Steps
While a number of the restaurants are in Marriott-branded hotels, London sees “many other brands” that would fit future openings, including Hyatt- and Hilton-branded hotels. In addition to the PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., she said the company will be opening restaurants at other golf resorts around the country.
Sushi by Bou also has sister concepts that London hopes to see gain ground as well. Sushi Suite takes over a hotel guestroom for a more exclusive experience. Wagyu Room focuses on meat-forward omakase experiences, while Omakaseed serves vegan fare. “We've gotten a lot of feedback and requests to grow and spread that brand, so we're definitely working on bringing that brand to our existing markets as well,” London said.
And as the brand continues to gain ground, London expects to keep Sushi by Bou connected to hotels. “We are definitely not looking for storefronts for us, because [the brand is] very experiential,” she said. And even being brought in to “The weirder the space, the better. … The more undesirable space is for [the hotel], the more desirable it is for us, because it lends itself to the experience.”