Chef Jiro Ono has been recognized by the Japanese government as a national treasure and “modern master” for his contributions to Japanese cuisine. He has received three Michelin stars. The awards and accolades for this masterful chef are endless. It is amazing to believe he is over 80 years old.

Chef Ono’s dishes are simple and straight forward: the freshest fish imaginable, warm carefully selected and cooked rice, deft knife work, all with a collection of wise and sarcastic jokes. He is very serious chef; but, unlike Masa, he is known to be faster to crack a smile unless you are attempting to perform the evil act of using soy sauce! He is known to have a funny sense of humor and is full of clever quips. After he asks if you have any allergies or restrictions, he makes it very clear you are about to embark upon a journey of a lifetime.

To me, an omakase meal is like perusing the colors of the rainbow: when everything is exquisitely fresh, it’s impossible to pick favorites or to dislike any of the fresh fish.

Full course list:
- Hirame　(ひらめ)
- Sumi-ika　(すみいか)
- Shima-aji　(しまあじ)
- Akami　(あかみ)
- Chu-toro　(ちゅうとろ)
- Oo-toro　(おおとろ)
- Kohada　(こはだ)
- Hamaguri　(はまぐり)
- Aji　(あじ)
- Kuruma-ebi　(くるまえび)
- Sayori　(さより)
- Tako　(たこ)
- Saba　(さば)
- Akagai　(あかがい)
- Uni　(うに)
- Kobashira　(こばしら)
- kura　(いくら)
- Anago　(あなご)
- Tamago　(たまご)

The HIGHEST level of KICK ASS!!!

Was opened in Dec. 2008 on Ventura Blvd, only couple of blocks away from the original location in Studio City. This is the only restaurant location where Chef Katsuya’s “Omakase” course is prepared by himself at market price. Reservations required for Chef Katsuya’s special “Omakase.”

Many of you probably know that the Katsu-Ya group has 5 locations in Southern California and growing. The founder and executive chef Katsuya Uechi tied for #1 ranking for Top Food 2006 Zagat Los Angeles guide. In addition, chef Katsuya has KATSUYA by Starck restaurants with SBE Entertainment in Brentwood, Hollywood, Glendale, L.A. Live and Laguna Beach. There are plans to open more restaurants outside of Southern California. A cool celebrity hang out Hyde Lounge on Sunset Blvd’s menu was also produced by no other than chef Katsuya. With partnership with Mutual Trading Company, the premier Japanese food supplier opened Sushi Institute of American (SIA) in downtown Los Angeles to train future culinary and sushi chefs.

Katsuya was born in small Miyako island, a part of Okinawa, Japan. He grew up in Naha, capital city of Okinawa. After graduating from Osaka Tsuji Culinary School, went on as apprentice in Osaka and Tokyo as well as working at a first class Okinawa restaurant. In 1984 he moved to U.S. with his wife. After working as a chief chef in Los Angeles local restaurants, decided to become independent. Ventura Blvd in Los Angeles is called “Sushi Ginza” otherwise known as “Sushi Corner” and is highly competitive. Katsu-Ya received high praises for his original Sushi creations. By word of mouth, the reputation spread all over the city. Hollywood Celebrity such as Cameron Diaz and professional athletes became his many regulars. In 2006 Katsu-Ya received highest score from professional restaurant critique publication Zagat. He analyzed eating habits of American public and stepped outside of what is considered to be Japanese cuisine, mixed with California style cuisine. He is responsible for setting a fire to a new Sushi Trend which many other restaurant followed suit. Katsu-Ya is respected among his peers for this accomplishment. In 2007 he was invited by CIA in Napa, CA to give demonstration at their “Rise of Asia” event. Katsuya not only is an accomplished chef but possess keen sense as a business man. Starting in local Los Angeles area, he has an expansion plan to develop other states and Japan.

As a side note, Katsu-ya Group DOES NOT issue or accept discount coupons of any kind BTW- so don’t even attempt to embarrass yourself by trying to discount some of the best tasting fish in LA.

Now to KIWAMI – Kiwami is definitely not designed by Philippe Starck. Its simple and all about the food. I started with Blue Fin Tuna (flown in from Spain) $16, then on to Skip Jack Poke $9, Jalapeno Yellowtail $16, Unagi Shirayaki (first steamed, then baked) $10, Tasmanian Trout in foil $15, Mixed Tempura $16, Spicy Tuna with Baked Crab Roll $12. Then I requested “omikase”, chef’s choice. The salmon and hamachi were the best! The Unagi is particularly wonderful and had the perfect texture.

Great authentic Japanese food here but the clueless staff have no idea what is good unless they are Japanese. The American waiters who work here don’t really know their stuff. That said, still great food. The scene is that of Hollywood Studio execs breaking away from the studio lots in the vicinity. So expect to hear what deal is going down, or more like what actor went… well never mind. Needless to say, tons of ego to help wash down the sushi. So, I recommend trying their dry sacki. Kicks Ass!!! smooth, dry with a floral hint. Worth the $28.

The chef at this restaurant truly rocks. He came out and greeted all the patrons, spoke a few words before he commenced to killing stuff on the grill……. this place is most excellent…………. KICKS ASS, highly recommended!!!

KIWAMI Restaurant‎

Address:
11920 Ventura Blvd Studio City, CA 91604
Phone:
818-763-3910

http://www.katsu-yagroup.com/kiwami.html

I quite frankly don’t believe K Zo needs the hip contemporary interiors or the vast menu…to me it’s not needed however I do understand he is trying to reach a broad audience.  Its either that or he doesn’t want to waste his training in French cuisine.  Personally I think its confusing and actually played out…but then again my realm is the sushi bar and oh what a Kick Ass bar he’s got…. – Sweet Shrimp

Chef Katsuya Uechi’s first sushi restaurant in Studio City is great, still one of my favs with a huge following. As a sushi chef he is one of the masters in LA and after nearly a decade of producing serious sushi he collaborated with SBE (Sam Nazarian – LA nightlife guru) to open Katsuya by Starck (as in Phillippe Starck, design impresario) in Brentwood, Hollywood, Downtown, Glendale, and Laguna Beach locally…with out of state outposts opening soon….yes he was seduced by the Dark side of the Force. Anchoring the South West corner of Hollywood Bl and Vine, it is at ground zero of the re-energized part of Hollywood where young hipsters and wannabes merge to eat, drink, and play in stereotypically “LA” scenes straight out of a movie. Complete with burly chiseled doormen to the quintessential wanna be actress 6ft blonde hostesses to the Starck designed ultra chic modern decor, Katsuya hits you viscerally from all directions. You’re not quite sure if you’re walking into a nite club or a restaurant…but that’s what they want you to experience in the first place, this is a “cool” place to be regardless of what the food is or tastes like. Trying not to stare at the hostesses ass as my date and I were lead to our seats, I drank in the full ambiance of the place…very LA, oh yes very LA. All of the wait staff is young and good looking, shit even the bus boys were straight out of Menudo. Ok….so what about the food? Well in all fairness this isn’t a true sushi restaurant nor do they really claim to be so I can’t really rip them apart for that and quite frankly the sushi is pretty good, the menu after all is overseen by Chef Uechi. The menu is a fusion of East meets West…it’s sushi for the novice. Some of their signature dishes…Yellow-tail sashimi with a citrus like Jalapeno sauce, Spicy Tuna over Crispy Rice, and Miso marinated Black Cod are universal favorites and are found at any Katsuya you go to. Along with the “Katsuya Favs” I did order individual sushi orders…Uni, Yellow-tail, Snapper, etc…and they were all good and reminded me of why the original Katsuya is so popular. However, no matter how good the sushi was there was just something odd about the experience. I realized on the drive home that what threw me for a loop was the ambiance. Imagine ordering sushi in a nite club or a Hollywood lounge, it’s like eating a really good steak in a bustling Chinese restaurant…just didn’t fit. Many people equate eating sushi to a Zen experience and for me I definitely am one of those people. I need to sit at a proper sushi bar and interact with a good sushi chef in order to fully immerse myself in the fish…after all that’s why we pay such high prices for good sushi isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, I do believe there is a place for this type of sushi joint…it’s definitely more of a social scene, where you drink fancy drinks and order some food and socialize. For what it is…it does it well. – Sweet Shrimp

Katsuya Hollywood

6300 Hollywood Bl.

Los Angeles, CA 90028

(323) 871-8777

Enter the realm of Kick-Ass Sushi Chef Hiroyuki Urasawa, yes this is a Rodeo Drive address but there is nothing “Beverly Hills” about this place…no ‘aspiring actress’ young blonde greeting you or anything over the top really…what you get is a date with the master and a coveted seat at his unfinished maple counter. The setting is minimalistic…very basic, if you’re here to be wowed by some cheesy Japanese motif, well you’re in the wrong place. A diamond is judged by the quality of the stone and not by it’s elaborate setting… you get what I’m trying to say.

Chef Hiro was once a sous chef at Masa Takayama’s ultra expensive Ginza Sushiko (Urasawa took over the space) before Takayama took off for the Big Apple to open Masa and Bar Masa; both Kick-Ass in their own right and future reviews to follow hopefully by my NYC counterpart ShisoNYC.

Ok, so lets get to it…the food.  What can I say…there really are no words, simply sublime.  All of the ingredients are top notch, you can’t get any better quality fish…btw most of the fish are flown in from Japan.  There is a reason why this is the only 2 Michelin Star rated Japanese restaurant in the US…I quite frankly have no idea why they haven’t awarded the third star yet cause I can’t imagine it getting better than this.  There are no menus, this is strictly omakase (chef’s choice) and it changes nightly from what I am told.  You’re served by a master..you eat what he gives you cause master knows best.  Now I have had many omakase sushi meals in my lifetime but holy Kick Ass, this is pure genius.  You really get into the head of Chef Hiro and what he’s trying to convey to you through his culinary skills…it is so Zen like…you just have to buckle in and get ready for the ride.  And what a ride it is, from subtle and delicate to bold…cold dishes to warm…you think you know whats coming next but nope, you’re wrong.  I found myself eagerly anticipating the next dish like my life depended on it, you can’t imagine it’s going to get any better than the previous Kick Ass mouthful but yeap…it does.  The Chef is also not shy about using very luxurious ingredients either like caviar and foie…marrying east and west perfectly into a truly Kick Ass bite.  Now you may be wondering how much all this is gonna cost you right?  Well lets put it this way, it aint cheap…but actually considering other top notch Michelin rated restaurants like French Laundry, its right in line.  Expect to drop about $500-700 per person…yes per person.  Ok ok but listen, think of it this way…what you’re getting is a custom one of a kind sushi…no, dining experience of a lifetime.  Chef Hiro is a true artist…like say I dont know…Sting (for lack of a better example…) imagine you’re getting a personal concert by Sting!  Not convinced?  Justin Bieber?  You get my drift…trust me it’s worth it ok?  Oh and by the way, this is not a place for a business meeting or a romantic dinner for two in my humbly opinionated opinion…I actually recommend you go by yourself and truly immerse yourself in a meal of a lifetime!  Sorry there are no pics for obvious reasons….- Sweet Shrimp

Urasawa

218 Rodeo Drive

Beverly Hills, CA 90210

(310) 247-8939

Click Here To Watch The Sushi Movie

Sushi Gen

422 East 2nd St. Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 617-0552

Ok so first impressions…decor was typical LA chic, kinda Katsuya ish (not the OG Valley one but the Hollywood version), and I noticed the space was small and a bit disorienting at first cause I couldn’t spot the sushi bar. Yes you heard me…no sushi bar! Huh? WTF? I specifically called and asked to be seated at the sushi bar but the only bar I saw was uh ok how do I describe it…um it was a bar, but like a counter at a diner kinda bar. Yeah Im still confused. I think the host thought I had just seen an alien based on the puzzled look on my face as she asked if I had reservations. I did a couple of double takes and looked around to see if I was even at the right place when I finally noticed some actual pieces of sushi on the tables. I asked her what the deal was with the sushi bar and she responded with a look on her face just as puzzled as mine that they do not have the traditional type of sushi bar that in fact their bar was more like communal seating. I literally almost walked out but the gf convinced me to stay so we took a seat at a table. We were greeted by our waitress, she looked liked she was 17 and she handed us the menus. Ah..the menu. Ok so…at SUGARFISH one does not order individual orders of sushi as one would think. There are 3 different types of “Trust Me” selections and each selection includes edamame to start and varying amounts of sushi and hand rolls depending on the price. I of course chose “The Nozawa” which is the biggest and baddest. You actually get about 9 orders of sushi and hand rolls so it definitely will fill you up. First up, edamame…it’s edamame what can I tell you, oh wait I’m sorry it’s ‘organic’ edamame lol. Then came an assortment of Tuna, Albacore, Snapper, Yellowtail, and Halibut. The sushi was good, as I suspected the quality of the fish was good and if you’ve had Nozawa sushi, he uses warm rice which for some is a different experience. The rice is also loosely packed which I kinda like. The hand rolls were good especially the Blue Crab Hand Roll…oh my Lord I could eat like a dozen of these…SOOO Good. The only problem with the hand rolls is that since the rice is warm, the nori gets soggy very quickly so don’t admire it too long or you’ll have chewy nori to deal with. The chef (well I think it’s a chef cause you can’t see him cause there is no bar!!) also adds a daily special to the last order which is kinda fun..I guess. And if youre not full at this point, you can also add a la carte which I did…more Blue Crab Hand Rolls!

I have real mixed feelings about this place…All in all it was a decent experience. Is it a pure sushi experience…no. For me I like to sit at a proper sushi bar and interact with the chef. This place is good if you want to go for lunch and have more than 2 in your party so you want to sit at a table. It’s also good if you’re a Padawan sushi eater, not quite a Jedi yet… and have graduated from eating crazy rolls. The price point is excellent for what you get, the 3 selections range from $20-$40 bucks which is a steal…and its good predictable good quality sushi. For me I like to order my usual orders but then I want the chef to have his way with me and get creative. I want to watch the chef cut the fish and make my orders…at SUGARFISH you are left to wonder exactly who or what is making the sushi…it’s all so programmed, I kept picturing 4-5 guys watching football and eating pizza in the back while they made the sushi. – Sweetshrimp

Sugarfish Brentwood

11640 San Vicente Bl. Los Angeles, CA 90049

(310) 820-4477

Yeap that’s Conan O’Brien…lol