Perhaps you’ve heard: Katsuya by S+ark, the glitzy Southern California sushi restaurant that started in the star-studded neighborhood of Brentwood, California, is coming to Houston. The location? The stylish West Ave at Kirby and Westheimer. The date? Early February, if all goes according to plan.

Celebrity sushi chef Katsuya Uechi (above) recently made a whirlwind one-day trip to Houston, giving us the scoop on what will no doubt be one of the most glamorous Houston restaurants to open in 2012.

You’re kind of famous in Southern California. How many restaurants do you have? Just by myself, five. And with SBE group, this is going to be the sixth Katsuysa by S+ark. I opened my first restaurant 15 years ago. My collaboration with SBE started in 2005 with our location Brentwood. We then opened in Hollywood, Glendale, Downtown Los Angeles, Laguna Beach and now here in Houston.

If you still cook, and you have all these affiliations, where do you spend your time? I have a restaurant called Kiwami in Studio City, close to Hollywood. I have two sushi bars there, a big one and a smaller second sushi bar where I can personally do an omakase-style kaiseki, seven to nine courses, for seven people. I also have a corporate kitchen where I do tastings and catering. I cater a lot for the Japanese consulate.

I hear that you visited a Tex-Mex restaurant yesterday. Yes. I had a fish burrito. It was good! And I had the salsa. It was tasty. We went to a restaurant called El Tiempo. We went to Kata Robata for lunch today.

Have you selected the chef de cuisine for this Houston location yet? No. We had a lot of interviews, mostly local applicants. But for the opening, we’re going to come as a kitchen team and train them. The team will come from SBE Katsuya and my Katsuya, too. I’ll be bringing chefs from both places.

If someone went to a Katsuya in LA and then came the location here in Houston, what could they expect? The decor is going to be signature Philippe Stark. Food-wise, it’s basically going to be the same [as the Katsuya in LA]. But now, I’m going to try to make, somehow, a few dishes with a little bit of Texas taste. Not a lot, maybe two or three dishes.

What are some of your signature dishes at Katsuya? Definitely I’m going to have crispy rice with spicy tuna and jalapeño on top, baked crab roll and this dish called seared tuna with Japanese salsa that I created 20 years ago and is still popular, and seared albacore with crispy onion, it’s very popular.

Do we know when Katsuya is opening yet? We’re planning on February 7, so I will be here at least four days before.