It has taken living in the city for three years to beat it into me that I have to get out of my comfortable neighborhoods. I had yet to eat at ANY restaurants in Inner Sunset and I have my eating buddy, Lisa, to thank for bringing me here. Apparently it helps to know the chef or at least insist at sitting at the bar to ask what is special and fresh. And apologies that the pictures didn’t happen – we were too caught up in the moment…
We started with the ubiquitous “Spoonfuls of Happiness” – two soup spoons, one filled with a tai-wrapped smoked ankimo dressed with a bit of truffle oil and tobiko, the other a preparation of uni with quail egg and house-made ponzu sauce. The spoonfuls are served with a specialty sake and being an ankimo fan, I thought I would prefer that bite, but the freshness of the uni and the subtlety of the ponzu made the uni the preferred bite.
Not wanting to get full on rice, we specifically requested sashimi — with two slices each of maguro, tai aka, sake, hamachi, and and kanpachi. Note that the fresh, real wasabi is certainly a treat.
Indicating we were definitely interested in “unusual” offerings, the chef made us a salad of light mizuna greens, thinly sliced cucumber, and baby raw whole shrimp and squid. I don’t recall ever having been served whole squid the size of my thumb. Incredibly tender and lightly dressed, this was an amazing offering.
As my client requested salmon, a special offering of crudo was presented — thinly sliced white salmon, so tender and bright.
There was also an unagi course, but I’m not remembering exactly how it was offered.
We finished up with my one request of the evening; ama-ebi, as my good friend, Lance (visiting from London), had never had a fried shrimp head before. Perfectly fresh sweet shrimp and the fried heads were light and crunchy. Just perfect.
I brought a potential client and I’m sure we must have been given some deals as we drank a lot of sake, ate a lot of sushi, and the tab was only $300 for four.
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Fortune has taken me to Los Angeles a few times this year and undoubtedly one of the best trips has been to stay with jeweler friend Rose. Being compatriots in a great love of sushi, she and her boyfriend, Andrew, insisted on sharing her personal favorite, Sushi Gen at 422 East Second Street in downtown. I think Rose has a personal “in” with head-chef Masa, but I’m not complaining. We had to wait a long time to get in and apparently that is not unusual for the following this place has. We waited a good 45 minutes for the coveted seats in front of Masa’s station and it was well worth it.
We started with a bottle of Kubota Senjyu which worked well for the entire evening’s offerings. To sort of “cleanse our palate,” our first offering was halibut sashimi in ponzu, with just a touch of yuzu and the fresh green onions, this awakened our mouths with an immediate demonstration of a respect for the fish and how it is best showcased. Not wanting to get too full on rice, I requested more sashimi than nigiri and fatty tuna was the next presentation; so rich and satisfying. There were presentations of both Japanese and Spanish mackeral (I think I liked the Spanish a bit better), sweet shrimp with fried heads (yeah!), and red snapper.
Rose knows of my willingness to try anything new or different and we asked Mas for the most unusual ingredient of the evening. In this, Sea Cucumber to which his sous chef (sorry, didn’t get his name) gave us a little dance on what sea cucumbers look like in the water. I’m just thankful I got pictures documenting that hilarious demonstration! The salmon had perfect marbling and the dressing on the albacore was just enticing enough to bring out its delicacy. Another juxtaposition which was offered was the Ankimo; Rose likes it with miso while Andrew prefers it with ponzu. I got to taste both and I’m still not sure which is my favorite, both worked so very well and it was thrilling to have great ankimo as lately, so much of the livers I’ve been eating have been grainy and not fresh.
We should have been full, but we couldn’t stop ourselves, continuing with some shared nigiri; scallops, unagi, squid with uni, and yellowtail. Rose and I also shared some oysters and then we culminated on a roll that Masa makes for Rose specially: a toro maki that is topped with more chopped toro and green onion. That was about my breaking point – we were too full for words and quite ecstatic. I don’t get this quality of sushi in San Francisco, that I have been able to find. The freshness of fish and its presentation was very reminiscent of Urasawa at a fraction of the price. So glad to have a new destination restaurant in Los Angeles and great friends to share it with!
Over the weekend I agreed to meet a new friend for lunch in the East Bay. I was thinking something innocuous and friendly, like Fat Burger or some other unknown local eatery. Joe picked me up a BART and had other ideas; Napa’s famed Auberge du Soleil. Wow. All the years I lived in Napa, I had only had an occasional glass of bubbly or attended some private, catered event at the institution. I had never eaten off their menu…
We were seated on the terrace overlooking the valley that had been my home for so many years. There was some debate on how many courses to order and Joe forged through with one of my favorite philosophies: Order whatever you want. What a joy! Thankfully, bites were shared across the board so I got a good sampling of a fairly extensive menu. Joe was very sweet in letting me order the wine and considering the lovely warm weather, I opted for a 2002 Dr. Loosen Riesling which was lightly sweet with delicate hints of a floral aroma and a perfect balance of acidity. Overall, it was a great wine to pair with our day’s offerings…
Shame on me for not writing this up sooner. My birthday present to myself this year was a trip to Los Angeles to see old friends and to finally dine at the mythic Urasawa. There was as much anticipation in approaching this meal as there was in going to the French Laundry for the first time; so much has been written about it and its masterful chef, that one can almost anticipate disappointment. I mean, how special and remarkable can ultra-expensive hunks of raw fish be after all? Suffice to say, that nary a meal in my past can surpass what I experienced at the hands of Hiro Urasawa. Yep, its true. It is the best meal I have ever eaten in my entire life, bar none. No mis-steps, every taste a revelation, every offering better than the last.
