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Sushi Lunch
May. 8th, 2008 03:13 pmI am so in love with this town. Never mind the truckloads of incredibly, knuckle-bitingly hot mountain men. There's also a kickass sushi bar. And they serve okonomiyaki!!! I mean, I've been to exactly two other Japanese restaurants in California that serve this, and I get around a lot. If you were going to pick one Japanese dish that would appeal to burly loggers, this would be it.
I rode into town to pick up some tile sealer and to check this place out. It was packed, which tells me that there is obviously a market for good food here. Looking at the clientele, I could easily imagine any of them as clients for my own business. The downside is that their prices are really reasonable, which is great if you're a customer but daunting if you're trying to serve the same market.
The staff consists of one sage old Japanese guy, clearly the sushi master, and a diverse mix of cooks and assistants. Save for the former, all of the male staff were bearded. I wasn't sure if facial hair and haute cuisine was going to mix, but if these guys can cook while sporting fur on their face, so can I.
The sushi chef is the model for how I want to operate when I'm in a client's house. Everything totally spotless at all times, with that same degree of sanitation. I'm very curious about the aesthetics of touching food with one's fingers. Can the special dispensation granted to the sushi chef be brought into a catering environment? What is it that signals to the diner that it's OK for the chef to touch raw ingredients, and that it's not distasteful?
I had a nigiri plate ($12) with an extra order of "local" uni ($6). I'm not sure where the uni really came from but it sure looked fresh - the surface was rough, like a cat's tongue, without any of the slimy / phlegmy look it develops when it gets old. The taste wasn't the absolute best I've had, but it's way up there. And the chef's knifework is great. The fish looked like slabs of molten glass draped over the rice, so smoothly cut it hardly looked real. Really good stuff, and far, far better than I'd expected.
One wiry kid working at the sushi bar caught my eye. He was really fast and sharp, just the kind of guy I'd want working in my kitchen. If he's doing it without drugs he's going to go a long way.
I got the feeling that I knew all these people already. Chances are I'll be in contact with half the people in that restaurant at one point or another over the next few years - it's just not that big a town. Whenever I tell people I'm starting a catering company in Ukiah, there's always a little pause, and they say "um... Ukiah?" But this afternoon left me thinking that I've really come to the right place.
I rode into town to pick up some tile sealer and to check this place out. It was packed, which tells me that there is obviously a market for good food here. Looking at the clientele, I could easily imagine any of them as clients for my own business. The downside is that their prices are really reasonable, which is great if you're a customer but daunting if you're trying to serve the same market.
The staff consists of one sage old Japanese guy, clearly the sushi master, and a diverse mix of cooks and assistants. Save for the former, all of the male staff were bearded. I wasn't sure if facial hair and haute cuisine was going to mix, but if these guys can cook while sporting fur on their face, so can I.
The sushi chef is the model for how I want to operate when I'm in a client's house. Everything totally spotless at all times, with that same degree of sanitation. I'm very curious about the aesthetics of touching food with one's fingers. Can the special dispensation granted to the sushi chef be brought into a catering environment? What is it that signals to the diner that it's OK for the chef to touch raw ingredients, and that it's not distasteful?
I had a nigiri plate ($12) with an extra order of "local" uni ($6). I'm not sure where the uni really came from but it sure looked fresh - the surface was rough, like a cat's tongue, without any of the slimy / phlegmy look it develops when it gets old. The taste wasn't the absolute best I've had, but it's way up there. And the chef's knifework is great. The fish looked like slabs of molten glass draped over the rice, so smoothly cut it hardly looked real. Really good stuff, and far, far better than I'd expected.
One wiry kid working at the sushi bar caught my eye. He was really fast and sharp, just the kind of guy I'd want working in my kitchen. If he's doing it without drugs he's going to go a long way.
I got the feeling that I knew all these people already. Chances are I'll be in contact with half the people in that restaurant at one point or another over the next few years - it's just not that big a town. Whenever I tell people I'm starting a catering company in Ukiah, there's always a little pause, and they say "um... Ukiah?" But this afternoon left me thinking that I've really come to the right place.
