Originally published January 9, 2015

By Kit Waskom Pollard, The Baltimore Sun

When Pabu closed last summer after a short but successful stint in the Four Seasons Baltimore, there was much consternation among the city’s biggest food lovers.

Its departure left a hole in the local food scene, but some minds were eased with the announcement that the space would be filled by another Japanese restaurant, this one owned by the Atlas Restaurant Group, operators of Harbor East’s Ouzo Bay.

Just a month after the opening of the new restaurant, Azumi, it’s clear that the big shoes left by Pabu have been filled.

Despite the focus on Japanese cuisine, Azumi is not Pabu 2.0. The new restaurant is more upscale than its small-plates predecessor, with a focus on luxe dishes and conspicuously high-end ingredients. The Patrick Sutton-designed space is stylish but comfortable, with low lights, deep booths and glossy bamboo tables. Ornate sake bottles alternate with rustic pottery on shelves around the room, a mix of high and low that is sophisticated but not overly formal.