East Austin Cocktail Bar Ah Sing Den Is Closing

An East Austin bar is going to be closing this month. Pan-Asian-ish cocktail bar Ah Sing Den — which used to be East Side Showroom — will have its last day of service at 1100 East Sixth Street on Sunday, June 9.

However, a new restaurant and bar is taking over East Side space, which will have a Filipino focus instead. OKO will open at the same address sometime in the early fall of 2024.

OKO is from Ah Sing Den’s owner Trinity Concepts, which is collaborating with restaurant company FAM Hospitality Group, whose co-managing partner is divisive chef Paul Qui. In fact, Qui will help develop the menu with executive chef Harold Villarosa, resulting in a focus on Filipino cuisine with an emphasis on the Southeast Asian country’s diaspora and Texas takes.

Trinity actually took over Ah Sing Den its co-founders/mother-and-daughter team Trudy and Mickie Spencer in September 2020. The Spencers opened the address’s predecessor — East Side Showroom — in 2009, known for being one of the earlier bars focusing on well-made cocktails. They closed the bar in 2016, and quickly turned it into Ah Sing Den a month later. The revamp took its name from the owner of a famous Victoria-era London opium den, which lead to its pan-Asian theme, decor (led by interior designer Mickie), food, and drinks.

Regarding Ah Sing Den’s closure, Trinity co-owner Donny Padda said it was time for a change, via a rep. “Traffic hasn’t been what it was in the past,” he writes, citing the neighborhood’s changes through the years. “So we feel it’s time to breathe new life into this historic Austin space.”

The Trinity rep told Eater that Ah Sing Den’s staff had been told about the closure and were informed that “they can reapply for positions once the hiring process starts with the new management team.” (On the opposite side of the scope, Austin restaurant Salt & Time, which announced it would be closing in July and turn into a new similar business, made sure its butcher team would still be employed at the replacement venture and that they worked on securing jobs for its other staffers.)

The name OKO stems from the Hawaiian word oko’a, which means “different;” the state has a big Filipino community. For food, the restaurant plans on having a kinilaw bar (serving ceviche), oysters from Texas dressed with pinakurat (a spicy coconut-based vinegar), lumpiang sariwa (egg rolls), chicken inasal (a skewered dish), and lamb adobo. Cocktails will focus on rum and agave-based spirits.

Qui was famous for his culinary prowess in Austin, from working at Japanese restaurants Uchi and Uchiko, winning Top Chef in 2012, and being awarded as the Best Chef: Southwest at the James Beard Awards that same year. The chef went out on his own to open Asian street food truck East Side King in 2009 (with various relocations, formats, and closures; now there’s the South Lamar restaurant, East Austin food truck, and food stall in Houston) and co-opened Thai Kun in 2014 (now a physical restaurant in Rock Rose). And then, Qui opened his ambitious restaurant Qui in 2013, which garnered much attention and critical acclaim. He also opened Miami hotel restaurant Pao in 2015.

In March 2016, Qui was arrested on assault charges against his then-girlfriend. Subsequently, he entered rehabilitation, came back a month later, closed Qui in 2016, turning it into a new restaurant Kuneho in 2017, and then closed in later that year. He remained a controversial figure as people talked about whether chefs can or should earn redemption. Qui’s assault charges were dropped in 2018

Post-Austin, Qui went to Houston where he ran two now-closed restaurants, seafood Golfstrommen with chef Christopher Haatuft and Southeast Asian Aqui. There was also the short-lived Richardson taqueria Tacqui.

Villarosa, who is from the Philippines and grew up in New York, has a long career in food, starting in McDonald’s and White Castle while he was in high school. Later on, still in New York, he worked at Aureole, Aquavit, Per Se, the Stand, Freemans, and Maison Pickle. He also runs his own food brand/pop-up Unkle Harold’s focusing on Filipino soul food, where he developed a bottled banana ketchup. He had been a video host at Bon Appetit.

Other OKO team members include FAM directors of operations Dylan Falkenburg and Alexander Gonzalez, and beverage director Jarmel Doss. Falkenburg worked at various restaurants under chef José Andrés in Las Vegas and Washington, D.C. Gonzalez actually had worked in Austin before, as part of the opening team of the Fairmont Austin and as the service/beverage manager of Qui. More recently, he was at Chicago fine-dining restaurants Alinea and Next, as well as the French Laundry in California. Doss had worked at cocktail bars Chicago cocktail bar the Aviary in Chicago and Higher Ground in Miami.

OKO’s renovations will be done by the Michael Hsu Office of Architecture. Expect “playful tropical patterns and iconography,” per the press release.

Trinity co-founders are Padda, Ash Seth, and Dennis Wen, who started the company in 2006. It runs a bunch of downtown Austin bars all of which opened with different owners: Summit Rooftop & Lounge (2013), Parlor Room (2016), and Key Bar (2006).

FAM is from managing partners Qui and Johnny Hoang, who were high school friends and formed the business in 2018. The company oversees Houston food hall Filipino restaurant Soy Pinoy, Denver Japanese-French tasting menu Koko Ni, food hall stands Nashville hot chicken spot Lea Jane’s and Johnny’s Burger in Houston and Denver; and Houston food hall cocktail bars Return to Sender and Address Unknown. Grandfathered in are East Side King, Thai Kun, and Pao.

There’s been a recent spate of shutters in Austin lately this summer: Salt & Time turning into Radius Butcher & Grocery (minus a restaurant); 1417 French Bistro; Spread & Co.’s original cafe; Cuvee Coffee’s original coffee shop; and House Wine, which is moving.