Kenichi, Dallas

Kenichi, which was once voted to have the Best Sushi in Dallas for three consecutive years by Citysearch, is a combination restaurant and lounge that exudes modernity. Bottles of sake are back-lit on a towering shelf (the sake list here is designed by one of the world's only Level II sake sommeliers) and there are tall stools at the brushed-steel sushi bar.

The chef and his culinary team infuse specialty house sashimi and makimono with a distinctly Southern accent. Their rolls bring together unusual combinations such as wild salmon and goat cheese, yellowtail and serrano peppers, and blackened tuna and mango. Entrees draw on high-quality proteins such as wild salmon, Japanese black-hog pork belly, and steaks from 100% pure Akaushi cattle, whose ancestry can be traced back to Japan's Mount Aso cattle.