ITADAKIMASU A Guide to Sushi in Los Angeles
TABLE OF CONTENTS SASABUNE
4-7
SUGARFISH
8 - 11
NOBU MATSUHISA
12 - 15
Albacore Sashimi at
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Omakase at
Sasabune Assorted Sashimi
Sweet Shrimp Sushi
Green Mussels and Japanese Oysters
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Toro and Tuna Nigiri
Salmon and Yellowtail Nigiri
Butterfish Nigiri
Hamachi and Halibut Nigiri
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SUGARFISH By Sushi Nozawa
K
azunori Nozawa, known for years as L.A.’s infamous “Sushi Nazi,” earned national renown in 2007 when Charlize Theron complained on The Tonight Show of having been kicked out of his eponymous Studio City restaurant because she kept directing him to serve certain types of fish. She should have known better: Nozawa’s edict, inscribed on signs at his hole-in-thewall omakase spot, was “trust me.” Regardless, Theron keeps going back for more. In January, paparazzi caught her and Seth MacFarlane stepping out of the Beverly Hills branch of Sugarfish, the stylish successor concept to the now-closed Sushi Nozawa. Since it launched in 2008, Sugarfish -- which boasts eight L.A. outposts, from Cala-
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basas (the location is something of a Kardashians catch basin) to Brentwood (Bradley Cooper recently was in) to a monthold address on La Brea -- has become an industry infatuation. The Beverly Hills shingle on Canon Drive in particular attracts the entertainment business crowd, including Larry David, manager Molly Madden and Paramount’s Rob Moore, and placed No. 13 in THR’s annual Power Lunch survey of 250 top Hollywood players, ahead of Mr Chow and Spago. The Sugarfish chainlet is, for the uninitiated, essentially Sushi ITADAK Nozawa scrubbed of its roughestSU Page edges. “Let’s put it this way,” says CEO Jerry Greenberg, a 15year Studio City customer and co-founder of tech company Sapient (he retains shares in the
The reforms only go so far: You still can’t ask for ponzu sauce, and you’re still
strongly urged to order from the several “trust me” prix-fixe menus (85 percent of customers do). Sugarfish -- which has an eye on expanding nationally -- appeals on many fronts. It’s a remarkably fresh product at a relatively modest price. (The average check is $30 a person.) At 68, chef Nozawa still scours downtown L.A.’s insular seafood district six days a week at 5 a.m., getting first dibs because of relationships with fishmongers forged during the course of deKIMA- cades. “I handpick everything,” he says. “That’s 80 percent of a 3 successful day -- at least.” Nozawa’s warm, loose rice is unlike any other food item in town. “The blend of ice-cold
fish on top of warm rice is such a fantastic taste collision,” says Danielle Gelber, an executive producer on Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. “No other place does that unique combination.” For busy decision-makers, ordering is a no-brainer. The menu runs no gamut: It’s sushi, sashimi, cut rolls and edamame, with not a spider or dragon roll in the house. Gratuity is included, so no time is spent calculating at meal’s end. Then there’s the fact that no one seems to complain of a bad meal. “It’s the most incredibly consistent restaurant I’ve ever eaten in. It’s a pretty rare thing,” says writer-director Zak Penn (The Grand). “You know exactly what you’re going to get, and it’s going to be excellent.” Says Nozawa: “It’s purism. It’s simplicity. I wanted to make the Apple Pan of sushi.”
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Sugarfish
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h Take Out
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Nobu Matsuhisa
The Man who Spiced Up Sushi by S. Irene Virbila
IN
a wildly polyglot city -- where Midwesterners live next to Oaxacans; Taiwanese, Armenians and Russians mingle with Hollywood hipsters; and Tongans live side by side with native Californians -- is it any wonder that their various cuisines have blurred into each other too? Los Angeles is fusion central and has been since its founding. Just look in anybody’s pantry. Ingredients, techniques and recipes from far-flung places mingle throughout local kitchens. And what about our restaurants? By now, they’ve offered practically every combination you can think of -- Korean-Creole, Oaxacan nouvelle, Franco-Japanese, pan-Asian, Filipino-Mediterranean, Thai-Italian ... and on and on. Most such marriages barely take a comet ride through the culinary skies
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before fickle gastronauts are off to chase the next new thing. But the one fusion that has stuck, and that Los Angeles has exported to the rest of the world, is Nobu Matsuhisa's revved-up sushi. Before the now world-famous Japanese chef came to Southern California, he worked in Peru, where he began incorporating hot chiles into his sushi and sashimi dishes. In L.A., he used not only chile, but garlic, caviar, olive oil, even butter. His original restaurant, Matsuhisa, on La Cienega's restaurant row, was a runaway hit when it opened in
1987. He'd found a flavor profile that made sense to Angelenos craving ever more vivid food. Matsuhisa's new-style sashimi, with warm olive oil poured over the raw fish, was a sensation. Angelenos swooned over yellowtail sashimi garnished with rings of fiery red pepper. He cut squid to look like pasta and tossed it in garlic and butter. He tried out all sorts of wacky ingredients and combinations. You never knew what would appear on that night's blackboard of specials. And with stars waiting in line for a seat in the inner sanctum, sushi was suddenly glamorous.
In 1994, when Matsuhisa opened Nobu in New York -financed in part by his biggest fan, Robert De Niro -- the Los Angeles chef took Manhattan. He went on to open restaurants in Tokyo and London and Milan, Italy, essentially colonizing the world with his eccentric Latin American-Japanese fusion sushi. Chefs who worked with Matsuhisa merely had to whisper his name, and backers came running. In L.A., we're already on the third or fourth generation of chefs influenced by his high-flying fusion and yet we're just as crazy about Matsuhisa's sushi as ever. ITADAKIMASU Page 13
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Thai Snapper Ceviche at
Matsuhisa Los Angeles
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