Jiro Dreams of Sushi: A Trip to Tokyo at the Movies

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a new documentary film directed by David Gelb that chronicles the life of Jiro Ono, one of the best if not the best sushi chefs in Japan.  The movie not only tells his story but also that of his family, particularly that of his heir and apprentice, his son Yoshikazu.  Jiro is 85 years old and still leads his restaurant daily.

The restaurant looks nondescript and those not in the know might not pay any notice to the little ten seat sushi bar in a Tokyo subway station.  But looks can be deceiving.  Jiro is a master who has been making sushi for decades and whose apprentices have gone on over the years to open some of the most highly regarded sushi establishments in Japan.  To get to experience Jiro's sushi, one must make a reservation long in advance, have a big budget and be prepared to eat quickly.

Meals begin at $350 excluding beverages and consist of a series of 20 pieces of sushi one after the other.  Jiro states that improvement is always possible and so each day he attempts to make the best sushi of his life.  After several months of waiting from when customers make reservations, their meal may be over in as little as thirty minutes.  Each piece of nigiri sushi is formed just so, with a precise amount of rice, an appropriate amount of wasabi added and then the fish draped on top with just a drizzle of soy sauce added on top with a paintbrush.  Needless to say this is a "no soy sauce" type of establishment.

Jiro's dedication has led to an interesting relationship between him and his son as the son has waited for decades for his father to retire, so he can finally be the head sushi chef.  I cannot imagine the patience that the son Yoshikazu endures nor the phenomenal drive that still pushes Jiro to come into the restaurant day after day when he could be enjoying his retirement, traveling on the gourmet circuit or spending time with his family.

When I walked out of the screening I was craving sushi.  Just watching Jiro prepare piece after piece of the highest quality fish was mouthwatering.  Food porn at its finest.  It was too late to get sushi that night, but I stopped in at Irori the following evening to get my fix.  It was quite good, but not quite the Jiro experience.

Here in Los Angeles, Jiro opens at the Nuart Theater in West LA on Friday March 16th.  It is already open in New York City and will shortly be opening in cinemas nationwide.  Don't go hungry or prepare for your own sushi craving.

A clip is below:

Kiyokawa Sushi in Beverly Hills: Precision with Warmth

Imagine entering the sushi bar where all is quiet after leaving the noise of the street behind.  Where a sushi master is waiting to prepare a meal for you from the freshest fish.  A private restaurant that is yours for the night.  The chef sending out dish after dish of pristine fish as you sit in front of him and happily eat, with the whole restaurant dedicated to you.  That is what I experienced on Monday night.  Did I buy this meal at a benefit?  Was I dining at Urusawa?  No, I walked in off the street at Kiyokawa and had the rare luxury of literally having the talented chef and restaurant at my disposal as there were no other customers.  Chef Sato (above) created a wonderful shellfish-free meal that I will be thinking about for some time.

Following some miso soup, which was served in a cup, the meal began with four kinds of sushi.  Each one was lightly sauced by Chef Sato, so no additional soy sauce was needed.  The halibut (top left) was particularly noteworthy.  The journey had begun and I knew I was in capable hands.

Dramatically presented on a plate with a Spanish Mackerel were five pieces of sushi, including one with caviar and gold, onion with cooked onions (middle right) and two with freshly grated wasabi.  Sato spoke about the importance of using all ingredients of high quality - why put commercial wasabi paste on pristine fish?  So the rice was at just the right temperature and he uses a sharkskin grater to make fresh wasabi paste for his sushi.  The Spanish Mackerel was only exceeded by the yellowtail.

The nigiri portion of the meal concluded with toro and salmon belly sushi.  The toro was unctuous and had that melt in your mouth quality that comes from its sheer fattiness.  The wasabi enriched the marbled fish and brought out more of the deep flavor and wonderful mouthfeel.  The salmon did not dissapoint either, although the toro was more exceptional.

I had asked for ikura as part of my meal and so at this point in my meal I was presented with a small bowl of salmon roe on top of a bed of rice.  The salmon roe had been marinated for over six hours in soy sauce and several other ingredients in the chef's secret recipe and each egg had the great pop you get from the best roe. When I was done, there was not a grain of rice or an egg of roe left in the small bowl.  I could have eaten a large bowl of this ikura don.

I added in a foie gras course, having noticed it on the menu when I came in.  The foie was pan cooked and then draped over rice, nigiri style, and wrapped with a small piece of nori.  Thinly sliced black truffle completed the dish.  This was rich and sweet, a luxurious dessert.

The final savory component of the meal was a negitoro handroll, chopped up toro with scallions and rice wrapped up in seaweed.  Much preferable to an ice cream cone.  This course was surprisingly just ok, not as amazing as the previous.

The final course of the evening was dessert: yuzu sorbet.  The sorbet was presented in a champagne flute, and the acidity of the yuzu was a pleasant way to conclude the meal.  It was hard to leave after such a luxurious and delicious meal.  Chef Sato was gracious during the meal, happily speaking about the fish, the restaurant and his philosophy.  This was omakase tailored to the customer, not the assembly line style that so many sushi restaurants in LA, even highly regarded ones have.  Those spots give everyone the same thing, most commonly ending with a blue crab hand roll.  Here not only was ikura built into my meal, and shellfish left out, but my reactions to the individual fish determined the next course's contents.  Also, the chef was personable, and felt no need to play the brusque sushi master "role" so often see in Los Angeles.

Having the restaurant to myself was an unexpected delight not likely to be repeated, although I know I will be back soon for another meal at the sushi bar, even if I have to share the restaurant (and the chef) with other customers.  I reluctantly relinquished my seat at the bar and stepped out into the night, full, happy and relaxed.

Kiyokawa: 265 S. Robertson, just South of Wilshire, Beverly Hills. Phone: (310) 358-1900. Website: www.kiyokawarestaurant.com

Satisfying but not soulful: SUGARFISH by Nozawa

SUGARFISH, the chainlet of sushi restaurants owned and created by Chef Nozawa, the infamous sushi nazi of Sushi Nozawa.  Nozawa is known for his warm rice style sushi, his fanatical following, as well as being well ahead of the curve on refusing substitutions and modifications.

Unlike his flagship on Ventura Blvd, the SUGARFISH chain, with outlets in Downtown LA, Marina Del Rey, Brentwood and Santa Monica, does not have a sushi bar.  All the preparation is done in the kitchen.  The menu is simple with three pre-set combinations accounting for most of the menu, which reads "Almost everyone orders one of the three Trust Me’s; however, you are welcome to order a la carte."  The three combinations are known as Trust Me, Trust Me Lite and The Nozawa, which are the medium, small and large of the menu.

I opted for the Trust Me, which included Edamame, Tuna Sashimi, Albacore & Salmon sushi, Yellowtail and Halibut sushi, Toro hand roll, Yellowtail hand roll (subbed for a crab hand roll).  The items came out in 5 courses, beginning with the edamame and the tuna sashimi (above).  The sashimi was in a sauce and was a nice start to the meal.

The nigiri portion of the meal began with the albacore and salmon sushi (above).  The albacore was sauced with ponzu and the salmon had sesame seeds on top.  The salmon was especially good.

The second nigiri course was yellowtail and halibut.  (above)  These like the previous fish were of good quality but did not elicit the joy of exceptional sushi.  The final courses were the toro roll and the yellowtail roll.  The waiter initially suggested forgoing the toro roll in favor of the yellowtail, but when I told him I couldn't eat the crab roll, I got to try both of the previously mentioned rolls and the toro was superior.

SUGARFISH is handy if you are looking for a quick meal or with indecisive people, as the menu makes most of the decisions for you.  They were flexible about my not eating shellfish, happily substituting the yellowtail roll for the crab hand roll.  They served the nigiri two orders at a time, so you could eat them while the rice was still warm, which I appreciated as so many restaurants serve the entire order of sushi at once to patrons seated at tables.  The pricing was fair for what was delivered, with the Trust Me priced at $28.50.

The drawback to SUGARFISH is that the fish is good but not exceptional.  There is also no opportunity for the interaction and subtle (or not so subtle) feedback with the sushi chef, so your meal can evolve to your taste.  It is impossible to build up a relationship with a sushi chef over several visits, as the sushi chefs are in the kitchen.  I enjoy seeing the fish in the case, seeing the chef make the sushi as well as getting to speak with the chef; at a sushi bar for me these are all essential parts of the experience.  There is something sanitized about the experience at SUGARFISH, which likely appeals to many, but not me.  This lack of soul doesn't make me want to go back and put it in my rotation.  If I am in the neighborhood and need a quick sushi fix, then I can see stopping in at SUGARFISH, but I would not go out of my way to return.

There is a mandatory 16% service charge, which is unusual in the US, except for large parties.  I am not sure why they do this; perhaps it is part of their drive to simplicity and removing yet another decision from the diners.  This is less than I normally tip, but if that is what they want, then so be it.  SUGARFISH is not the place for diners who wish to be in the driver's seat.

SUGARFISH: 1325 2nd Street, Santa Monica (& 3 other locations).  Phone: (310) 393-3338.  Website: www.sugarfishsushi.com

Mitsuwa Marketplace Centinela: Santouka

Santouka is a ramen specialist located in the Mitsuwa Marketplace Centinela food court, and is considered one of the better ramen joints in town. I don't partake of pork, so I am unable to comment on their specialty. I did manage to sample their ikura don on a recent trip there. Ikura don is a bowl of salmon roe over rice. In this case some dried seaweed strips were also placed on top.

The ikura don was good with the roe having a nice pop and not mushing together. With a little soy sauce to flavor this was a delicious, though light, lunch. I paired this with a miso soup from a neighboring outlet and enjoyed this meal more than my previous Mitsuwa meal at Misasa.



Santouka: 3760 S Centinela Avenue, Los Angeles, @ Venice Blvd. Phone: (310) 391-1101. Website: santouka.co.jp

Hide Sushi: No frills sushi since 1979

If you grew up in West LA, then you have probably been to Hide Sushi at least once. It opened on Sawtelle Blvd in 1979 and has been serving sushi and cooked Japanese food at reasonable prices ever since. Hide has always been cash only and has an ATM machine on the premises. For as long as I have been going there, Hide has had a wait to be seated at dinner. They have a dry erase board for diners to write their name on and hungry customers frequently check the board to see their position in the queue.


I have been going to Hide Sushi for roughly twenty years; I wouldn't eat sushi when I first started going there. They have a parking lot and my family went so frequently that the parking lot attendant would ask about anyone who wasn't with us on that visit, especially my grandmother. So I have an affinity and history with this restaurant.

On a recent visit I opted for the teriyaki and sashimi combination. This came with miso soup,rice, tsukemono (pickled greens) and sunomono (cucumber salad). I opted for the beef teriyaki and the salmon sashimi and added an order of two pieces of inari. The hot soup arrived quickly in a lidded bowl, along with the sides of tsukemono and sunomono. These sides are nothing to get excited about. The beef teriyaki comes with a great version of teriyaki sauce, with just the right element of sweetness. The teriyaki is served with a salad with the traditional ginger salad dressing.



The salmon sashimi was fresh tasting and nicely cut. The number of slices is greater than expected.



The inari (fried bean curd wrapped around sweet rice) look like little footballs. For me, they are a great dessert because of the sweetness, although they are really part of the meal. They are listed on the menu as six to an order, but you can order them in multiples of two.

If you go, plan on bringing cash. Your party must be complete in order to be seated and expect a wait. They turn the tables quickly so this is not a spot for a long drawn out meal. Their cooked food and sushi is a good value. They have a parking lot with free validation, although it often fills up and street parking can get tough on this stretch of Sawtelle, due to the large number of Japanese restaurants.

Hide Sushi: 2040 Sawtelle (between La Grange & Olympic), West LA. Phone: (310) 477-7274. No website.

Sushi Gen - classic lunchtime bargain

Some compatriots and I tried and failed to eat dinner at Sushi Gen prior to the Radio Room at the Edison on Tuesday night as they were booked solid the rest of the evening. We made do with a very eh meal at Manten, a Japanese take on Chinese cuisine, across Honda Plaza, which I recommend be avoided.

This reminded me of Sushi Gen's well known Sashimi Lunch Special: a platter of sashimi, a bowl of miso soup, a dish of sunomono a bowl of rice and a bowl of tofu in a beef broth all for $15. I had not had this deal in a few years and was curious to see if it was still good or was coasting on its reputation so stopped by for an early lunch on Friday.

The menu was on the menu when I sat down and a waitress came by to take my order within two minutes before I had even had a chance to look at the menu. Fortunately I knew what I wanted - the sashimi lunch special. After ordering the lunch special ($15) and a hot tea ($1.50) the waitstaff set a land speed record for delivering waiter ordered food to the table. Not two minutes later the sashimi platter, miso soup, sunomono and tofu all arrived at the table, followed by the bowl of rice a minute or two later.

The sashimi platter is generously portioned and included tuna, yellowtail, toro, spicy tuna, diced yellowtail with scallions and cooked salmon among others. While the fish is plentiful, some of it is cut more like scraps than like sushi, so purists be aware. The toro was rich and buttery, full of fatty flavor and mouthfeel. Toro is not something I expect to see on a combination or special plate, let alone one priced at $15, so that is even more of a special treat.

The tofu is cubed and cooked and arrives in a broth in a bowl, like Agedashi Tofu, only not fried. It is a fine prelude to the main event but not especially flavorful or interesting. The miso soup was piping hot.

The overall verdict was that the sashimi lunch special at Sushi Gen is not only a great value but a great lunch. The deal is no secret so crowds begin to form from 11 am onwards through the end of the lunch hour and expect a wait of ~30 minutes or longer at peak times and ~15 minutes early or late. They turn the tables quickly here, so this is not the place for a leisurely lunch to catch up with friends you haven't seen in a while. I was probably at my table for about 30 minutes and when I left the line to get in was longer than when I had arrived. The fast turnover accounts for both the fresh fish and the lickety-split arrival of the food.

Note that the sashimi lunch special (and all lunch specials) are only available at tables, not at the bar. The bar requires a minimum of four orders of sushi/sashimi.

Sushi Gen is located at 422 east 2nd St @ Central, in the Honda Plaza minimall. Parking is available for $1.50 with validation at lunch time ($2.50 at dinner time). Telephone: (213) 617-0552

Cart for a Cause: Nobu Edition

Tuesday March 23rd was the first day of operation of Cart for a Cause. This is a temporary gourmet truck that will operate on Tuesdays and serve gourmet lunches from shnazzy chefs for $10. The beneficiary of the cause is St. Vincent's Meals on Wheels, a Catholic charity based in downtown LA which brings meals to the housebound. According to LA Weekly's SquidInk Blog, $6.50 of each meal goes to the charity.

Nobu Los Angeles was the first restaurant/chef up and they will be returning this coming Tuesday as well. The location was behind the UTA building on Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills, the same building as the Niketown, just off Rodeo Drive.

There were three options: sushi with black cod, sushi with chicken skewers, and a field green salad with shrimp. All the lunches also came with a drink, either bottled water or one of the pomegranate beverages from Pom, who is one of the sponsors. (Pom corporate sibling Fiji Water and Lexus are also sponsors). I opted for the sushi with chicken skewers. The skewers came with two types of sauce, a red sauce that was mildly spicy and a darker one that reminded me of teriyaki sauce.

It was incongrous to see a nun hanging out at a food truck. But she was there to represent the cause. A reasonably sized line had developed by the 12:30 launch time and after a suitable number of photo ops, the food distribution began. They only had 150 portions and sold out within an hour. I was told by a friend who went by too late that by the time he got there only the shrimp salad was left.

The sushi was 3 pieces of spicy tuna roll and 3 pieces of salmon and avocado maki. According to the Cart for a Cause facebook page, the two sauces/skewers were anticucho & kushiyaki.

After next week's Nobu round 2, other chefs will be taking weekly turns. They will apparently be using other locations to park the cart in future weeks as well. Note: the best parking option is to park in Via Rodeo's underground valet parking lot. They have 2 hour free parking, no validation required, and the only cost is the valet tip. It is less than a 5 minute walk to the UTA driveway from there.