Michelin Team Behind Koya Bringing Sushi and Ramen Spot to Odessa

The couple behind one of Tampa Bay's few Michelin-starred restaurants is bringing sushi and ramen to Pasco County. Eric and Adriana Fralick, who own Koya, Kinjo and Noble Rice in the Tampa area, are opening a new restaurant called Toro at the Shoppes at Starkey Crossing on Gunn Highway in Odessa, with a target opening between late October and early November.

Eric Fralick makes the drive from Pasco County to Tampa most days to run his restaurants there. Two years ago, he started thinking about bringing that same style of cooking closer to where he actually lives.

"We recognize that the market for actual decent sushi and good fish is just not out here," Fralick told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. "So we decided to take a leap and open up a location out here."

Toro will occupy a 1,500-square-foot space at 2290 Gunn Hwy, in a shopping center surrounded almost entirely by national chains: Keke's Breakfast Cafe, Chick-fil-A, Dave's Hot Chicken, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Andy's Frozen Custard, Texas Roadhouse and Huey Magoo's Chicken Tenders all sit nearby.

"It's pretty much all chain restaurants out here," Fralick said.

A more casual, takeout-first version of Koya

Toro won't try to replicate the tasting-menu experience of Koya, the Hyde Park restaurant that has held a Michelin star for three straight years. Instead, Fralick described it as a scaled-down, more casual concept built around takeout, with an educational bent aimed at making sushi and ramen approachable for people who might not otherwise order it.

The decision grew out of what the Fralicks saw happen at Koya, where takeout orders have become a significant part of the business. When the Odessa property came up for lease, close to their own home, they moved quickly.

Fralick has not started hiring yet, but expects Toro to run with fewer than 10 employees. He declined to disclose the total investment in the new location, though the space itself is new construction. Clearwater-based KW Partners bought the land in 2022 for $2.67 million, according to Pasco County property records.

The Fralicks' growing restaurant group

Toro will be the fourth restaurant from Eric and Adriana Fralick. They opened Noble Rice in Channelside in 2016, and it has held Michelin-recommended status since 2023. Koya opened in 2020 and earned a Michelin star in 2023, a distinction it has kept for three consecutive years. Their newest concept, Kinjo, opened in 2025 and was added to this year's Michelin-recommended list. Kinjo's chef, Jada Vidal, also won the Michelin Young Chef award this year.

None of those restaurants sit anywhere near Pasco County, which is part of why Fralick says he wanted to open something closer to home. Toro won't chase a Michelin star, he said, but it will lean on the same team's approach to sourcing fish and building out a menu of specialty sushi, nigiri, ramen bowls and maki rolls.

No firm hiring timeline or menu has been finalized yet, and Fralick said those details will come together as the opening date gets closer.

Got thoughts on Toro coming to Odessa, or know of other new restaurants headed to the area? Share them with your neighbors in our Community Forum. For more on what's opening and closing around the county, visit the Pasco County Community Website, follow us on Facebook, and check out more business stories from around Pasco County.