Shyh-Dyi Jou Shu, the sushi chef who helped push Pittsburgh into its modern dining era, is retiring from Umi at the end of the month.

“He’s been talking about retiring for a while. It’s a tough grind doing this five nights a week, carrying everything up and down the stairs, standing all night,” said big Burrito Restaurant Group corporate chef and president Bill Fuller.

The retirement means that Umi Japanese Restaurant in Shadyside will close temporarily, Fuller said, following the chef’s final service on Saturday, Oct. 4.

Known to all, even those in Burrito management, as Mr. Shu, the Taiwan-born chef came to Pittsburgh in the 1990s after working in kitchens in New York City. He was recruited by the East Liberty-based restaurant group to open a high-end sushi restaurant above its red-ho

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