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It’s gonna take me awhile to get through all the dishes pictured, but they look marvelous. Aburiya Raku is like a 1-2x/yr thing for me, so it’s nice to know that you can still get very good food at a more accessible price. 
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Yah, my friend still laments at the loss (compared to how good they were, before their original chefs left), but even currently it’s an enjoyable, affordable dinner when you don’t feel like spending much. And some of those highlights were definitely very good still.
And if you head down there, make sure you plan to go a little earlier, and stop by Patisserie Chantilly for their Black Sesame Cream Puffs! 
(It’s only like 10 minutes away from Torihei.)
That poached egg with the salmon roe is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in a food pic.
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really dug our visit.
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im going to gently don my asshat…how shall i put this…let’s see:
why would any restaurant, especially a japanese restaurant of this type, which i pretentiously and possibly incorrectly assume is particularly “seasonal” in what they serve, offer a tomato dish of that type in march, in california, usa?
didnt that ring any alarm bells for you?
i say this with respect and dont mean to impugn your ordering skills, which are legion.
thank you for the report.
Hi @linus,
No no, you’re absolutely right to ask that. 
Really, we should’ve known better than to order anything Tomato in March (since we visit the farmers market often and get a feel for what the farmers are offering right now).
It’s just that Torihei has this Tomato dish on their menu year round I think. At least when we went years ago when the original chefs were there, it was on the menu (but I forgot what season it was, so maybe it wasn’t year round?). But I remember seeing it mentioned a few posts here and there on our old board also.
But you’re right: Ideally they would only offer it in season and then take it off when it’s out of season. I was hoping to relive the enjoyment of the delicious Tomato Oden dish we had years ago (excited to see how it compared), only to afterwards think about the season and it being March… sigh.
Thanks.
Greenhouses and hydroponics mean year-round fresh local tomatoes for the Japanese chefs in SoCal.
There’s one such big tomato hydroponics tomato-growing operation right off the 605-Fwy (near Rose Hills). I think Oyama-san from Totoraku uses them for year-round tomatoes. And I loooove Totoraku’s tomatoes.
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+1
tomatoes can, and are, grown year-round. Good ones, too. Ripe and juicy.
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i sit corrected. i guess i knew they could be grown year round; i also guess im wrong about them being worth eating.
thank youse for the info.
I’ve been buying heirlooms and cherry tomatoes the last couple weeks. This time of year is not optimal, but if you sprinkle them with a nice flaky salt about half hour before serving, it brings out the flavor and juice. (Actually, any salt will work.)
A little balsamic, olive oil, and basil don’t hurt either. 
I
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