The omakase-only trend among Hawaii sushi restaurants will continue with the opening of Michelin-star chef Takeshi Kawasaki’s Maru Sushi, tentatively set for late fall to early 2017 on Kalakaua Avenue near Kapiolani Boulevard.

The Hokkaido-born chef worked at the renowned Sushi Zen in Susukino, Sapporo, Japan, for a decade before launching his own restaurant, Maru Sushi, in 1987. His combination of premium ingredients and technique earned him a Michelin star in 2011. Recently retired, his son now helms Maru Sushi, but Kawasaki, not content to stay idle, is starting over in Hawaii.

A pop-up at the Waikiki Shopping Plaza last week gave a hint to what diners can expect when he opens his restaurant. Delicacies from the waters of Hokkaido included sweet urchin, baby abalone in eel sauce and two of the earliest types of sushi seafood ever eaten in Japan, nakazumi (small kohada) and hamaguri (cherrystone clam).

Diners also got a history lesson with a selection of aji (horse mackerel) wrapped with nori and cut in half. Through a translator, Kawasaki explained that in ancient Edo, sushi was topped with a half side of fish, which made it longer than today’s made-for-the-mouth counterparts. To make the sushi bite-size, chefs cut the sushi in half, which evolved into today’s practice of serving two pieces per order.