Uchiko, the nationally acclaimed sister concept to Austin’s award-winning Uchi, is officially moving forward with its first Maryland location in Bethesda. According to county records, the restaurant has received its permit to begin a $4.6 million interior build-out at 7315 Wisconsin Avenue, the former Ruth’s Chris Steak House space. The 9,000 SF restaurant is now slated for a mid-2026 debut, marking one of the region’s most anticipated culinary arrivals.

Hai Hospitality, the group led by James Beard Award-winning chef Tyson Cole, first confirmed plans for Uchiko Bethesda in 2025. The concept, which translates to “child of Uchi,” blends Uchi’s refined approach to Japanese cuisine with a slightly more playful and modern edge. Uchiko has earned national recognition since launching in 2010, including being named Best New Restaurant in America by GQ that same year.

Chef Tyson Cole, one of the few American sushi masters, spent over a decade training in Tokyo, New York, and Austin under two different sushi masters before opening the original Uchi in 2003. His dedication to the craft quickly earned widespread acclaim. In 2005, Food & Wine named him one of its Top Ten Best New Chefs, and in 2011 he received the prestigious James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest. Uchi went on to be named one of Bon Appétit’s Top Ten Sushi Spots in the U.S. in 2009.

Today, Uchi and Uchiko operate in several major cities across the country, with Bethesda joining the next wave of Hai Hospitality’s expansion. The company has described Uchiko as an evolution of the original concept, a space where culinary experimentation continues to grow while remaining rooted in traditional Japanese technique and hospitality.

With the multi-million-dollar fit-out now underway, Uchiko Bethesda is expected to become one of the most high-profile restaurant openings in the region next year, bringing a nationally celebrated dining experience to downtown Bethesda.

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Two sibling contractors convicted a decade ago for hacking into US State Department systems have once again been charged, this time for a comically hamfisted attempt to steal and destroy government records just minutes after being fired from their contractor jobs.

The Department of Justice on Thursday said that Muneeb Akhter and Sohaib Akhter, both 34, of Alexandria, Virginia, deleted databases and documents maintained and belonging to three government agencies. The brothers were federal contractors working for an undisclosed company in Washington, DC, that provides software and services to 45 US agencies. Prosecutors said the men coordinated the crimes and began carrying them out just minutes after being fired.

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On February 18 at roughly 4:55 pm, the men were fired from the company, according to an indictment unsealed on Thursday. Five minutes later, they allegedly began trying to access their employer’s system and access federal government databases. By then, access to one of the brothers’ accounts had already been terminated. The other brother, however, allegedly accessed a government agency’s database stored on the employer’s server and issued commands to prevent other users from connecting or making changes to the database. Then, prosecutors said, he issued a command to delete 96 databases, many of which contained sensitive investigative files and records related to Freedom of Information Act matters.

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