Sushi - behind the scenes
Friday, February 8, 2008 13:35
[photo of Hiro Urasawa from Gayot.com's review of Urasawa, by Louis Charles]
I kept some notes from a somewhat recent discussion on chowhound that I found extremely interesting. (I’m afraid I neglected to note which posters made which points, so I’m sorry I cannot give full credit where due.)
Here are a few general things you might not know about your sushi experience.
When you go to an extra fine sushi house, you are paying a premium for a number of reasons, the primary one being due to the pecking order of sushi chefs in this town.
The quality of the fish that most sushi bars purchase at International Marine is not the same. Chef Nozawa apparently shows up at 6am and Chef Nobi (from Sasabune) around the same time.
Everyone else shows up later.
There is only a small amount of superior quality fish available these days and these high ranking guys get the lion’s share.
Hiro Urasawa shows up around 9am and picks up his already fish. (Hand-picked apparently earlier in the morning, but I’m unsure by whom.)
Basically, there are a handful of other sushi bars across Los Angeles who pay the premium prices for the very best fish available, which is extremely limited.
Most of the 7-800 LA sushi bars just order and have their fish delivered and do not choose it themselves.
From a slightly paraphrased post by russkar on chowhound:
There are other sushi bars who buy Premium Fish but the selection is so small only a few sushi bars get them. Some of the others that come to mind are Kiriko, Mori Sushi, Hiko, Asanebo, Wa, Sushi Gen.
I’ve been in my share of arguments over the years with some of the Chefs over a particular ‘high quality’ fish.
…[recently] a 800 lb Blue Fin tuna came in IMP and was scooped up by MASA, NY. I also buy from LA FISH and True World. Huge demand and little product creates serious competition.
Okay, so that’s just the fish. Then we come to what they can do with it.
You probably already know that sushi chefs go through years and years of training and apprenticeships in order to master their craft. If, like me, you’ve ever attempted to make sashimi at home, you probably ended up with a hacked up pile of fish. Obviously the manner in which it is trimmed and sliced, and then attractively arranged on the plate, genuinely makes it tastier, or at least more appealing.
Some chefs in Japan, and also here in LA, take their art to the next level. Morihiro Onodera hand crafts the gorgeous ceramic plates on which he serves his sublime sushi. (He also makes his own tender tofu and polishes his own rice, for crying out loud!) The glazed clay platters at R 23 are also hand made. For his elaborate Kaiseki sushi, Kyoto-style dining experience, Hiro Urasawa to give one example out of 32 courses, he hand carves a personal block of ice on which to serve probably the finest toro you will ever taste in this town. I believe this to be true.
If you think you know sushi, you might like to take a class at the Sushi Academy.
It will change your view on sushi and make you more aware on what to look for when purchasing fish for your own consumption.
So, which is your favourite place for sushi in Los Angeles and why?
Please provide links and addresses, if you can!
While I recently enjoyed a fine meal at R 23, my hands down favourite place in LA is Mori Sushi.
Urasawa (no link available) remains unsampled by me - for now!
Post Scriptum:
According to a recent post on chowhound by exilekiss:
The menu [at Mori Sushi] states that [Morihiro Onodera] gets his own special blend of sushi rice made exclusively for him.
Mori Sushi
11500 West Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, California, 90064
(310) 479-3939
Sushi Zo
9824 National Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 842-3977
Sushi Sasabune
12400 Wilshire Blvd. #150
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 820-3596
By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She is completing a family cookbook and has also written novels for 8-12 year olds. She is currently writing two screenplays.
Jonah says:
February 8th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Interesting post Max, it looks like this is the Chowhound post you were referring to?
Jonah says:
February 8th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
And for my picks, I really like:
Echigo (my review)
12217 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 820-9787
Hamakawa (my review)
209 S Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90012-4208
(213) 625-8125
Cross Street: Second Street
Easy parking in the structure one block east of Hamakawa
Mori (as mentioned in the post)
I liked Sushi Sasabune, but I find Echigo just as good (or better) for less.
MaxMillion says:
February 8th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Nice sleuthwork, Jonah! Thank you.
sneakypeteiii says:
February 8th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
My favorite has to be Mako, which I wrote about earlier. With its consistent quality, conviviality, and generosity, I just don’t ever need to look anywhere else for my sushi. They could get their fish from a ratty trash can every morning and I’d still go — just not as often :)
I’m sure places like Urusawa and R23 will serve superior fish, but at some point the fish just becomes overvalued; coincidentally, this is also the point at which I start to enjoy it less.
Great work, Max!
Michael says:
February 9th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
The best Sushi I have had in LA or otherwise has been at Toshi, the first time I went in it I was a little concerned, next door to a dive of a hotel and the place was empty (never a good sign for a sushi joint). I go back at least once every time I am back in LA which is monthly.
Sit at the bar and don’t take any flak from Marcos. :-)
Just tell him what you like and don’t like in sushi, he’ll take care of the rest.
If you are an Uni fan, I highly recommend the Uni shooter.
KT says:
February 10th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Thanks for this post! I love learning about stuff like this.
I’m not a sushi connoisseur, so I can’t really contribute to favorites, etc. but the place I have probably eaten at most often is Sushi Don Sasabune in Studio City. It has a limited menu and is very cheap, and I’m sure you guys know it–I know it’s pretty beloved among Chowhounders, etc.. I used to come here from work whenever I was feeling under the weather because not only could I usually get the place to myself, but the combo of green tea, miso, plus a sushi protein blast was great to help keep the colds away.
I’ve heard great things about Mori, and I know my husband is dying to go there.
I’ve also heard that Asanebo is very good, but you have to be careful, because they don’t tell you how much their specials cost and the price can be fairly shocking - so make sure to ask if you’re on a limited budget!
Tim K says:
February 10th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
For what it’s worth, the chef at Sushi Iki in Tarzana, Eddie Okamoto, has mentioned several times that he gets to the auction at 5am. Unless he means that’s when he leaves his house. Anyway, best sushi I’ve ever had and glad to know he’s part of the select few that DO care!
Nozferatu says:
February 11th, 2008 at 10:41 am
KT…
I wouldn’t be eating Sushi if I were under the weather…you re asking for some serious trouble.
High priced sushi places are just that because you are basically paying a high hourly wage for the chef. You’re paying him to get up at 5AM and spend a couple of hours at the market.
Last I checked in the industry, some sushi chefs value themselves at around $150-200 per hour while on the clock.
MaxMillion says:
February 11th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Hey Noz, thanks for your added info regarding chef’s rates ^ and definite thanks for inspiring me to write this post.
MaxMillion says:
February 11th, 2008 at 11:05 am
sneakypeteiii it’s great to re-read your beautifully evocative review of Mako. Just seems too far away for me to check out any time soon…
Michael, I’ve been to Toshi. Yeah, the divey fleapit hotel right next door is a bit off-putting, but the sushi is very good.
TimK I’ve heard good reports about Sushi Iki in Tarzana so I’ll have to check it out. Also Jonah’s recs sound good…
Another one on my hit list is 4 on 6 sushi in Encino.
KT — how could I have forgotten to mention Sushi Don Sasabune? It’s one of our East Valley gems! The fresh fish is so buttery and so fantastic and the prices are truly reasonable. Best of all — they are open all day, which is great for me as I almost always eat my lunch mid afternoon.
Getting a sushi craving around 3pm used to mean brown rice sushi from wholefoods (pretty good but kinda spendy for what you get, I reckon). But now I zip over to Sushi Don Sasabune and get a few plump handrolls to go. They do have several tables in their sunny shop front, and there’s always the newspaper, but I’d just rather come home.
so much sushi, so little time…
Nozferatu says:
February 11th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Hey Max,
No problem…I’m not here to knock you. So don’t take what I have said previously the wrong way or personally.
I enjoy this blog and it’s great to see you are doing what you are doing.
Matt says:
February 11th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I’ve also heard that when you get Wasabi, you should ask for real Wasabi. A lot of places just serve horseradish thats been colored green. Don’t know if this is true or not? Not much of a Wasabi person.
For sushi, my favorite is the live Scallop from Sushi Go 55
http://www.japaneserestaurantinfo.com/sushigo55/index.html
I like Sake House for the butter garlic albacore or Noshi Sushi for large but cheap pieces of sushi. Wokano if I want some fancy roll with 5 different ingredients. If I want to splurge of course I go to Nozawa.
H.C. says:
February 13th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Matt, wikipedia does a pretty good job explaining the difference between real and fake wasabi:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasabi
The vast majority of sushi restaurants serves the horseradish (”fake”) variety, and I think many won’t have real wasabi available on hand. Locally, I do know that Azami Sushi Cafe does provide real wasabi if you do the omakase ($35+ / person).
There is a flavor difference between the two varieties, but it’s been so long since I had the real one I forgot how it tasted like.
MaxMillion says:
February 13th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Matt, I’m like you — I dislike “wasabi” and usually skip it.
That is, until I had freshly ground wasabi root.
There truly is a world of difference.
E.g. at Mori Sushi, Mori-san grinds the stuff in front of you.
If you are sitting at the sushi counter of a presumably high-end place that offers the real deal, I expect they’ll show you.
Jonah says:
February 13th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Mori also serves the fresh wasabi and I think that Echigo does as well.
coleen says:
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Sushi Katsu-ya in Studio City is by far my fave!! don’t order from their menu…order from their white board the server brings over to your table.
this restaurant is to not be mistaken with the katsuya in hollywood…2 totally different restaurants!!
Anh says:
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:45 pm
For purely sushi my order goes
1. Sasabune
2. Sushi Park
3. Echigo
Omakase
1. Asanebo
2. Matsuhisa
3. Katsuya (Hollywood and Vine)
Jonah says:
April 4th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Thanks for the list Anh, I haven’t heard of Sushi Park before. Looks like it is similar style to Sasabune and Echigo (traditional/no tempura or creative rolls, etc.)