Late Winter 2020 Menu
Not sure what else can be said about hayato, but chef go continues to excel and on this visit I was fortunate enough to try a couple brand new spring dishes and ingredients.
tatami room update
still not open. but a new foh person was just hired, hopefully that means things are moving along. i selflessly offered up my services to be a test subject.
welcoming sake - dassai 23
hiro-san preparing the prawns
sakizuke - live santa barbara spot prawns, tosazu jelly, shiso blossoms
the sweet spot prawns were seared over binchotan to a perfect snappy texture and complemented by tart tosazu and punches of shiso.
agemono - kobashira (surf clam abductor muscle), fava beans, salt
the kobashira and fava beans were expertly fried into a kakiage tempura.
(new) oshizushi - battera anago
this one was new to me and absolutely delicious. the anago was served with wasabi instead of the typical sweet tare so you can taste the inherent sweetness of the anago. @JeetKuneBao, @Sgee, @Chowseeker1999
owan - live dungeness crab suimono (clear soup), baby kabu (japanese turnip)
fun fact 1: chef go makes two pots of dashi a night and decides which one to use right before serving.
sashimi - tai (kagoshima), wild aji (hyogo), salt, soy sauce, wasabi, raw nori, myoga, shiso
excellent, still looking forward to trying his uni sashimi.
sake steamed abalone, abalone stock cubes, abalone stomach sauce, wasabi
i think the only thing that could make this better is a tiny ball of rice to sop up all that stomach sauce.
binchotan grilled nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch from iki island, nagasaki), lotus root, dark soy sauce
best grilled fish in town
fun fact 2: chef go ages his nodoguro for 7 days
(new) hamaguri ushio-jiru - japanese hard clams, fresh bamboo
brand new dish and another sign of spring, hamaguri–similar to a cherrystone but way more tender and sweet. the broth is made from tai bones and was light and flavorful. @TheCookie, @NYCtoLA
fun fact 3: chef go has been waiting over three years to use these double clam shell plates
(new) panko crusted fresh baby corn
first corn of the season, loved the balance of sweet corn and salt.
spring nabe - amadai (tilefish, yamaguchi prefecture), shiitake mushroom, fresh wakame, wild fiddlehead ferns (oregon), japanese turnip
Even sitting in broth the amadai still had incredible flavor from the binchotan. @Bookwich, @chinchi, @foodshutterbug
chinmi - karasumi (dried mullet roe)
gohan - kinmedai (chiba), yuzu
Insanely fatty and delicious. The kinmedai left so much oil on the cutting board trump is starting a new pipeline. We knew chef go and his team were looking forward to some pizza after service so my counter-mates and I finished off the whole pot so that they wouldn’t have to #sacrafice @butteredwaffles, @attran99
x3
harry’s berries gaviota, kinako infused whipped cream
k&j orchard nashi pears
tea - sencha, matcha mix
This is ishikawa-san’s favorite tea and he sends this directly to chef go
He said only dinner for now and that he’s lucky I caught him in a good mood. 
That anago… wow. The whole evening looked fantastic!
Fingers crossed for an April solo cancellation or getting lucky with May…