the legendary og maru-san is still going strong, making some of the bestest nigiri in la and he’s doing it all by himself with no prep cook or assistant, pretty impressive.
thanks again @NYCtoLA
highlights
smoked toro, smoked takuan
piping hot matsutake dobin mushi
umaki
tai no kobujime
hotate
aji
buri
akami zuke
masu with aged soy
amaebi
otoro
iwashi
kuruma ebi
kinmedai
uni
torotaku
Maru-san’s quality control is second to none. Did he raise the price on the omakase? He told me not long ago that he’s trying to keep prices the same in this time of inflation by doing almost everything himself.
Funny side story - at the end of the meal, as we were cleaning Maru-san out of his sushi inventory, he turns to me and says “Hey NYCtoLA! Next time you bring @PorkyBelly, please let me know in advance so I can prepare!”
(Ok, in fairness to Porkybelly, with his next breath, Maru-san said “I know you eat a lot, but if it’s the two of you, I really need a heads up!”)
Last night one of my dinner companions asked which high-end sushi-ya is my favorite. I told him I love Sushi Kaneyoshi, but joked that my favorite is someplace I’ve never been, Mori Sushi.
Maru-san is selling the place and moving back to Osaka to do some “diplomacy” food work between there and Taiwan. he’ll be back and forth from Japan<->USA a bit–leaving here in March, and back as soon as June for 1.5mo (available for catering events during that time)–and will always maintain a relationship with the restaurant, but it will no longer be “Mori”
the new owner, who i’m not familiar with, will be maintaining the interior, the ceramics, general atmosphere, etc. besides a few things Maru is personally attached to and will be holding onto.
Mori is the place, fresh out of college, where i learned what good sushi is… back when the omakase cost $120/pp. (after Morihiro-san gave up his singular obsession with rice and started branching out). i’d barely been going for a year, when i indicated to Maru how much i loved a piece of kohada he served. he reached underneath the counter display, pulled out a tray of shinko, delicately laid out a constellation pattern, and schooled the fuck out of me with a single piece of nigiri.
it’s where i met Yoshi-san, and formed the longest chef friendship i’ve had. i will follow Yoshi to the ends of the earth. i have been so unbelievably happy to see his well-deserved rise to the rank of fine dining (maybe less thrilled about the well-deserved cost and feeling bad about having to text him for reservations)
the meal was fantastic. some of the finer details are lost, particularly in the pre-sushi portion. it is absolutely impossible to give everything 100% attention when you are doing 1000% of the work. i’m amazed the more delicate items came out well when he’s literally bussing the table at the same time.
is it time? yes. am i heartbroken to say goodbye? fuck yes. does anyone else care or remember? who knows, but i hope so. this place is extremely important to me and will remain in my heart forever.
