Dine in as in sushi bar?
yes
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.
highlights
udo simmered in soy
daikon wrapped mackerel
shrimp, kumquat
nodogoro
kuruma ebi tempura
maguro
kamasu
aji
kinmedai
sb uni
kanpyo
mizu shingen mochi
fresh tofu, wasabi
soy marinated udo
daikon, mackerel, karashi sumiso
fava beans, sakura
hotaru ika, fresh wakame from mori’s hometown, karashi sumiso
kinmedai, daikon, udo, takenoko
shrimp, kumquat, red peppercorn
mori-san’s providence/italian inspired dish.
one of his beautiful handcrafted plates
grilled nodogoro, tsukemono
prepping for the tempura course
tentsuyu, lemon juice, salt
kuruma ebi
udo
awabi
fava beans
hirame
kanpachi
kohada
maguro
saba
mori-san is now getting his rice from japan and milling it daily in-house. he uses a blend of komezu and aged akazu.
aji
kinmedai
kamasu
mirugai
santa barbara uni
hokkaido uni
kanpyo
unagi
tekka maki
macerated harry’s berries
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.
mizu shingen mochi, kuromitsu, kinako
this reminded me of the kyoto dessert kuzukiri.
matcha ice cream mochi
taiyaki
… that rice. The master is back.
I can taste the perfection of that rice through the screen. Just wow.
It was great chatting with you @PorkyBelly ! Much appreciate your photography and notes!
That rice was indeed special and the whole dinner was a delight!
How does Morihiro rank in the current local sushi landscape?
OMG that looks good. I assume that was omakase? How much was it? And was it hard to get a reservation?
I would imagine the Sergio factor skyrockets it into Top 5 in L.A., if not Top 3.
yep, that was the omakase, it was $300. reservations weren’t hard.
Wow. Baller territory. Maybe I can justify it as a post-vaccine/first meal indoors celebration.
Related to the desert course… has anyone seen harry’s berries at their farmers market? Or are these early season berries wholesaler only?
Don’t know about FMs, but Clark St. bakery is/was selling them recently.
Harry’s is back at the SM Farmer’s market per a couple chef IG feeds I’ve seen during the past couple of weeks.
Chef Nicole Rucker of Fat + Flour is using them in her Strawberry Shortcake kit.
I saw Harry’s Berries last Sunday at the SM farmers market on Main St. They were the only vendor with a line.
i started seeing them at the fm around mid february
FWIW I was eating at Sushi Inaba in Manhattan Beach and the chef was saying that Mori Sushi in West LA uses the same rice as Jiro. Not sure how much truth there is in that after Mori left but the amount of detail he has for everything he does wouldn’t surprise me.
Interesting! Actually I thought the shari at Morihiro Atwater (and Mori Sushi, for that matter) surpassed the shari I had at Sukiyabashi Jiro.
They have been at the Torrance Farmer’s Market on Tuesdays and Saturdays for a few months now. Stock is somewhat low, and they usually sell out by about 10:30ish on Tuesdays. Not sure about stock on Saturdays. The price was $11/1lb. clamshell, but due to low production, has gone up to $12 in the past few weeks.