Archive
LA Kaiseki/Sushi: Yamakase (Apr. 2013)
Author: Victor
Restaurant: Yamakase
Chef: Kiyoshiro Yamamoto
Website: http://www.yamakase.com/
Date: April 19, 2013
Dinner #2
Notes:
(Whew, Dinner #2. I just had 38 pieces of sushi at Sushi Zo at 5:30 p.m., and here I am at Yamakase to eat a lot more food at 7:30 p.m. I’m going to gain a looooooooooooot of weight today.)
Yamakase recently opened, and they call it an “invite-only” restaurant. It’s not hard to get “invited”, though. You just fill out a form online on their website, and they’ll reply back with an “invitation” soon enough.
The restaurant’s pretty hard to find, and parking was annoying. It’s street parking–only, but, if you’re like me, you’ll just park in a nearby lot and hope that your car doesn’t get towed away. Once we arrived at the restaurant, we had to knock. There’s no sign, and it even says “closed”. They even lock the door hahaha—it was pretty shady.
The meal was wonderful. Chef Yamamoto seemed a bit strict at first, but you realize a few minutes in that he’s a really, really nice guy. He’ll also like you more if you’re really enthusiastic about the food. (He seemed a little offended when one of the customers near us wouldn’t eat the rice when he was serving nigiri.) It was one of those meals that reminded me of Urasawa—you could chat with the chef a lot and even drink with him!
Sushi notes:
The rice was even warmer than Sushi Zo’s, which was kind of a con for me. The rice was similar to Sasabune’s rice in NYC when I went; I have to admit that the rice was really soft and fluffy, though it did break apart easily once or twice (a problem that Sasabune also had). It did feel a little inconsistent at times, though—for a few pieces, the rice would at times feel slightly grainy, but this particular issue wasn’t too big of a deal.
The fish was VERY fresh, and it seemed like nearly all of his ingredients came from Japan.
LA Sushi: Sushi Zo (Apr. 2013)
Author: Victor
Restaurant: Sushi Zo
Chef: Keizo Seki
Date: April 19, 2013
Dinner #1
Notes:
(I really should not have eaten here hahaha. I made a reservation for 5:30 p.m., two hours before my Yamakase reservation at 7:30 p.m., and I ended up eating 38 pieces of sushi here… somehow. I’m faaaaaaaat.)
Sushi Zo is often a contender for second-best sushi in LA; other contenders include Mori Sushi, Kiriko, and so on. (Urasawa is pretty much first in my book and many others’ books.)
Sushi Notes:
Chef Seki is known for his warm rice, and it reminded me a lot of Sasabune’s rice. It was REALLY soft and fluffy—I think Chef Seki’s philosophy is that warm rice helps you focus on the taste and texture of the fish more. (However, there’s that whole controversy where people are against warm rice and so on. Oh well.) Anyway, the rice wasn’t quite as warm as Sasabune’s, and it broke apart less (as a result of that, I think). Also, the nigiri pieces were smaller, so the warmth of the rice wasn’t as big of a deal to me.
The fish was very fresh, and there was a decent selection of the normal fish you see as well as fish from Japan. I kind of wish they used less condiments, but that’s entirely up to the restaurant and chef, and I enjoyed the sushi regardless. Still… it would have been nice to be able to taste and focus on the fish by itself, free from condiments such as sea salt or yuzu.
NYC: Per Se (Apr. 2013 #1): Canard à la Presse!
Author: Victor and Tad
Restaurant: Per Se
Exec Chef: Thomas Keller
Chef de Cuisine: Eli Kaimeh
Date: April 8, 2013
Dinner: Mom’s Visit Meal #4!
Victor’s Notes:
As some of you know, my mom and my cousin visited me last weekend, and I decided to show her some of my favorite fine dining restaurants in the city. This is stop #4 of 4: Per Se!
This was an amazing meal, and pretty much everything was impressive. My mom, cousin, and friends had a fantastic time, and it really was a wonderful experience that I will never forget. I really have to give my thanks to the staff at Per Se for making this meal possible!
P.S. We had “canard à la presse” during this meal! My life is now complete. (That is all haha.)
Tad’s Notes:
Make no mistake: Per Se is so highly lauded for very good reasons. In addition to the impeccable service, the food this time reached hitherto untouched heights. Victor and I have often discussed our favorite restaurant in New York; he loves the consistency and quality of Per Se, while I prefer the sometimes (literally) magical experience at Eleven Madison. Today, however, I can say with very little reservation that I have had the best entrees I’ve ever tasted in New York. We will gush more about these later; suffice to say that you owe it to yourself to experience this at least once in your life.
At the same time, there were a couple of stumbles here today that I didn’t expect from Per Se. These were small errors that may have had more to do with my personal preferences than any actual mistake by the kitchen. They were also quickly overwhelmed by the highlights so it didn’t take away too much from the overall experience. At the same time, in the interest of fairness, they must be mentioned, so you don’t think that Victor and I are actually on the TKeller payroll.
Monte
Victor
tadv3
Happy Noms 