Sushi:
Sushi has been integral to the dissemination of exceptional food in Los Angeles. Ventura Blvd likely houses more sushi parlors per block than any piece of real estate worldwide. The San Fernando Valley, where Ventura Blvd covers a wide stretch from East to West, does not have an immense Japanese population living there. But it does have the highest concentration of sushi bars anywhere. There is the sushi restaurant where the waiters tap dance as they serve you newfangled rolls. All you can eat sushi bars make their presence known. Even the purported creator of the California roll (a concoction of snow crab, avocado, and rice wrapped into nori and cut into bite-size pieces) makes its home on the Blvd. Sushi, namely fresh fish, can be a health food pointing towards our collective fascination with the once exotic though now more commonplace association with raw fish. One need only go back to the 1970s and Little Tokyo’s Tokyo Kaikan to notice the humble beginnings of sushi restaurants in LA.
A famously strict sushi bar which seems to be a rite of passage for studio execs and TV stars is firmly situated in a non-descript mini-mall. Chef and owner Kazunori Nozawa of the eponymous Sushi Nozawa on Ventura Blvd, near Universal Studios, in Studio City has been serving up sushi his way or the highway since the 1980s. Many now successful sushi chefs are acolytes of Nozawa’s now almost patented “Chef’s Choice: Trust Me” sytle of sushi. Urban legend goes that Nozawa will throw you out on your bum if you so as happen to mention a predilection for California or spicy tuna rolls. Some sashimi (almost always baby tuna), nigiri-zushi, and some simple rolls such as his to-die-for blue crab hand rolls are served up here. There is no tempura nor other cooked foods here. You’d be hard pressed to find a bowl of miso soup. A cartoonist of The Simpson’s even has a piece of cell animation depicting a traditional sushi chef (possibly Nozawa himself?) admonishing Homer for reaching over the counter and snatching a whole fish. The décor at Sushi Nozawa can be summed up as pedestrian at best. One conjures up images of a cheap Americanized Chinese takeout joint, not the epitome of fresh sushi where the bill can run upwards of a C-note person with a beer or two.
What you’ll get here is tuna over rice along with yellowtail, red snapper, scallop, shrimp, halibut, albacore, and maybe a hand roll or two from a monkfish liver roll to the famous blue crab one. All are of the utmost freshness from a chef obsessed with scouring the local fish market downtown for the only the freshest in the early morning hours. Sometimes he will allow you a couple extras that you can specifically ask for once he has finished his set omakase (literally translated as to entrust or to protect, more readily identified as chef’s choice). Sometimes there can be an arduous wait while at other times a seat opens up quickly. As a side note, Sushi Nozawa closes on the weekends. Nozawa has a pressing golf game to attend to on those days so you’ll have to make do until the business week commences anew.
Not many people realize it, but an exceptionally tiny and exceptionally excellent sushi bar has quietly gone about its business in Canoga Park, a couple miles away from the heavy traffic and hubbub of Ventura Blvd, although like its competitors it is still situated in a mini-mall. The name of the sushi bar is Go’s Mart and is a play on the words Go Smart. The chef does have a snide sense of humor. Its neighbors remain classic pod mall participants such as a Papa John’s outfit and a tanning salon. The sign above heralds SUSHI in bright neon letters. Once, upon asking the chef if he had any walk-ins, he sheepishly replied, “Not really.” When you walk inside, you’ll notice a stack of Japanese videos in one corner, surely an oddity for the ages. The refrigerator case up front has fish lined up and arranged just like a fish market. Off to the side, eight or so high-backed chairs reside overlooking the sushi counter and the chef. All of two tables are placed right by the bar. The sushi chef here is far from strict, no tyranny or sushi despotism here. Exceptional fish remains the order of the day whether you’re arriving for a no-brainer spider roll or ganja (aka marijuana) roll after a movie or you’re there for a no-holds barred multi-course sushi extravaganza.
We prefer the authentic dishes here. Some of our favorites are the seared toro (fatty tuna) steak topped off with ponzu and 24-karat gold flakes that melts in your mouth like a prime filet. The smooth ankimo (cold monkish liver) sauced with sweet misso reminds landlubbers of the foie gras of the sea due to its supreme richness and smooth buttery flavor. There is a special that frequently appears on the handwritten chalkboard called kawagishi toro, which is essentially the toro that has been scraped from the bone of the fish. The chef places the kawagishi on top of small pearls of sushi rice and the whole is drizzled with a light homemade soy sauce and topped with caviar and more gold leaf. The sushi tastes just as beautiful as it looks, which is no small feat when most sushi bars care more about aesthetics than freshness and taste. He also serves a wide variety of fish from the yellowtail family from the quite exotic kanpachi to the almost never available buri (wild Japanese yellowtail). Each time you ask about a particular dish, the chef replies, “Good choice”, which seems to be a running shtick with him. As you eye the chalkboard some more, you’ll notice a blaring signal. The words HOLY COW will grab anyone’s attention. What is that? You guessed correctly: Kobe beef, imported straight from Japan (not to be confused with American Kobe, which one finds ground up into Kobe beef burgers at fashionable local hot spots). The slab of Kobe beef is unwrapped from the butcher paper and sliced into thick pieces to order. He places them on a pan and sears them just so placing a piece on a ball of rice and places it on your plate. This seared Kobe beef sushi elucidates our long-standing atavistic relationship to the purest of beef. You have to arrive early to make sure the Kobe beef remains or else you may be out in the cold. Go’s Mart offers other great oddities including a made-to-order blue crab hand roll blended with truffle oil and a baby shrimp topped with white truffles and wrapped in nori. The bill will be dear but is surely a small price to pay for exceptional sushi, quality, and creativity.
Another noteworthy sushi shop, Shibucho, resides on a lonely stretch of Beverly Blvd away from the glitter of the fashionable Westside and the sushi heavy Ventura Blvd. The head chef and owner, Shige Kudo, bought the restaurant decades ago from his former employer who operated the original location of Shibucho on Alameda St on the top floor of Yoahan Plaza (now known as Mitsuwa Marketplace) in the heart of Little Tokyo back when people were merely starting to get the idea of what sushi can be. Shige serves all the usual sushi suspects in his almost hidden speakeasy bar reminiscent of bars scattered in back alleys of Tokyo. Shige has a preference for older Bordeaux and Burgundy to go with his sushi so the wine list is comprised of bottles from the 1950s and 1960s ranging in price into the hundreds of dollars. The reserve list is a fun read, which you can pour over if you’re waiting for the rest of your party to arrive. He does offer sake and beer. He only offers an omakase menu to regular customers who he has a trusted relationship with. Shige at times plays with tradition. For instance, he adds olive oil to seared albacore salad and once offered real French foie gras (imported from France) simply sautéed in a pan with pure butter, and possibly a sprinkle or two of salt. The ingredient itself, goose liver, sings without the presence of a sweet or sour sauce to disguise the true flavor of quality food. You would be hard pressed to find that at your neighborhood sushi bar unless you happen to live near the intersection of Beverly and Rampart. Italian and French desserts are offered here from a smooth, intense chocolate mousse to a restrained, light tiramisu. Sometimes a reservation is required for the bar. It’s helpful to note that Shibucho on Beverly remains open until midnight (though used to close at 3 in the morning), so you can get some albacore sushi, tiramisu, and a glass of 1961 Cheval Blanc as a coda to your late nite flick.
A few years back the original owner of Shibucho (the downtown LA Yaohan plaza location) came back out of retirement to the U.S. to open up a new sushi parlor with his son in a mini-mall on 19th St in Costa Mesa (next door to an In N Out burger). His sushi has always been traditional, but he’s far from being fanatical about. You can order by the piece or the traditional omakase. Whichever way you decide to go you’ll still end up winning. Not all of his sushi melts on the mouth. In fact, one of the unique characteristics about sushi is the texture in addition of course to flavor. Some pieces are chewy and some not to much. Shibutani-san usually serves up a piece of cooked fish as an amuse-bouche before the onslaught of great raw fish. His wife will place a cup of piping hot green tea in a homemade pottery mug and refill it before you even realized you needed it. The service speaks in subtleties rather than being overbearing. The sushi bar reveals itself as a beautiful family operation. Trust Shibutani-san and he won’t steer you wrong. He also enjoys transfers his artistry to his customers and educate about the different varieties of fish out there. His unique homemade soy sauce, ponzu, and yuzu sauce only help to reinforce the lengths he goes to for his devoted customers. Dinner is quite reasonable at Shibucho. There are usually free tidbits thrown in on the house whether you are a regular or just becoming one.
The number of sushi bars in Los Angeles never ceases to amaze us and continues to show up everywhere. If you can think of an area lacking in sushi restaurants, before you know it there will be one if not two or more there. Sushi is healthy, tasty, and flavorful and at the right sushi bar becomes an artistic endeavor worthy of veneration.
Tags: Add new tag, albacore, ankimo, avocado, beer, Bordeaux, Burgundy, calendars, CDs, crab rolls, cream cheese, Go's Mar, Japan, Kobe beef, monkfish liver, raw fish, sakes, sashimi, sea urchin, seafood, Sushi, sushi bar, Sushi Nozawa, Sushi Sasabune, toro rolls, tuna, Ventura Blvd, wine, yellowtail
