after stints at shiki and inn ann, chef mori is back behind the counter with his own restaurant inside of a narrow space next to viet noodle bar in atwater village.
after a year of takeout and outdoor dining, it was a pleasure chatting with mori-san and eating sushi at a counter again. added bonus, met a fellow ftcer there too, it was great chatting with you.
rice bran, black sesame cookies
mori-san likes to use the rice bran produced from his mill throughout his omakase. he asked chef laura to incorporate it into dessert and this is what she came up with.
perfect mosquito-free day to have a carmakase in griffith park, except the bee sitch was out of control. got swarmed at three different tables before retreating to the car. who knew bees like tekka maki so much. #beeseeker1999
I actually feel like the Atwater / Echo Park / Silver Lake / Los Feliz area is ripe for a high-end sushi play. Lot of moneyed residents who are presumably well-traveled and adventurous eaters.
perfect mosquito-free day to have a carmakase in griffith park, except the bee sitch was out of control. got swarmed at three different tables before retreating to the car. who knew bees like tekka maki so much. #beeseeker1999
i wasn’t too clear in my post but the “sushi omakase ten” includes all the sushi in the first picture, the appetizer box pictured after the nigiri, and miso soup and rice (not pictured). the box of hosomaki was a separate order. and the last picture is the bento which also includes miso soup and rice.
as you can see there was a lot of overlap between the sushi omakase’s appetizer box and the “seasonal bento”, so i wouldn’t recommend getting both.
the shari for the nigiri was on the mild side, the kohada was exceptional and the highlight, the hosomaki seemed a bit rushed and uneven (which is surprising since mori-san seems to take pride in cutting his tekka maki just right), the highlights in the appetizer box/seasonal bento were the tofu and dessert. the cooked fish in the bento was too dry.