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Carjackers who took Cuellar’s Toyota also got away with his sushi dinner - Roll Call
Carjackers who took Cuellar’s Toyota also got away with his sushi dinner.
Posted: Tue, 03 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
LA's Best Japanese Restaurants
Awarded a Michelin star within a few months of opening, this rarefied omakase counter from chef Seigo Tamura is one of the top sushi restaurants to open in Los Angeles in the past few years. The 20-course tastings that cost $350 per person include a proper mix of prepared dishes, such as ankimo (monkfish liver) and Japanese hairy crab, and sushi, like umami-rich kohada (gizzard shad) and seared anago (sea eel). Chef Fumio Azumi has brought a phenomenal destination-worthy sushi place to Alhambra (his partner chef Kwan-san has since departed for a new restaurant in Ohio), with $300 per person dinner menu served at the bar and a more reasonable $120 lunch on weekdays. Quality is top-tier, with two kinds of rice and all the freshest fish available. Currently operating out of sister restaurant Inaba in Torrance, Yasuhiro Hirano’s intimate sushi counter offers an ultra-premium omakase ($280) that deftly incorporates dry-aged fish and exotic ingredients like mantis shrimp and plump Japanese oysters. This is the kind of place where you can expect a crash course in the art of sushi from the chef himself, plus the appropriate tuition and fees to match.
Shunji Japanese Cuisine
This counter-only restaurant in Little Tokyo costs $300 a person and serves a truly spectacular dinner comparable to the best around the world. Sister restaurant Bar Sawa offers a more affordable omakase next door with cocktail pairings to boot. In the high-end realm, I look for places that maximize overall wow factor; even within the upper echelons of L.A. Dining, I take price, atmosphere and booking convenience into consideration. After all, not all folks want to plan their dining schedules around Tock reservations going live.
What makes L.A.’s sushi scene so great? I found answers in Tokyo
After opening in fits and starts since the pandemic, this Edomae-style sushi counter along Sawtelle Boulevard has reopened for dinner service with three excellent, budget-friendly set meals deserving of your attention regardless of whether you live on the Westside. Owned by the same group behind some of L.A.’s best ramen bowls, the restaurant was famous for its pre-pandemic lunch specials. The less expensive sets ($49 and $69 respectively) swap out premium ingredients like Wagyu and toro out for less pricey cuts, but you’ll still leave here feeling satisfied regardless of which set you order.
MICHELIN Guide
As the most discerning, up-to-the-minute voice in all things travel, Condé Nast Traveler is the global citizen’s bible and muse, offering both inspiration and vital intel. We understand that time is the greatest luxury, which is why Condé Nast Traveler mines its network of experts and influencers so that you never waste a meal, a drink, or a hotel stay wherever you are in the world. That we have in wondrous plenty, as these 21 restaurants — a top 10 and 11 additional standouts — attest.
This hip spot has a variety of distinctive spaces that lure creative types and beautiful people. Chef Shigenori Fujimoto has teamed up with Frank Leon and Evan Ross on a Japanese fusion menu that never misses a beat. Dishes are often irreverent, as in rich and savory udon carbonara with paper thin smoked pork belly, creamy egg and parmigiano; and the sticky-sweet oxtail-stuffed bao is craveworthy. Seafood is impressive, whether it's ceviche or sashimi-quality halibut bathed in a ponzu sauce vinaigrette. Chef's specials include shimeji risotto or whole baked branzino with sake. Leona’s Sushi House in Sherman Oaks goes into the former La Loggia space with proprietor Frank Leon and sushi pro Shigenori Fujimoto, previously of Asanebo and Shiki.
It’s not often that a high-end omakase restaurant resides at the street level, but that’s the case with Sakurako, which comes from Sushi Enya founder Kimiyasu Enya. Enya brings on three talented chefs who trained in Japan, with head chef Akira Yoshida preparing the heart of Sakurako’s nigiri array. Master chef Tatsuki Kurugi composes kaiseki-style appetizers and sashimi courses while pastry chef Shota Takaki finishes the meal with a thoughtful, fine dining-level dessert. Omakase for every whim, reason or predilection—making it all the more remarkable that this newer Gardena sushi counter manages to stand out among its older peers.
The result is a multi-faceted space with indoor and outdoor dining rooms, plus a tucked-away counter where patrons can get a Valley-style omakase blending of Peruvian flavors but hewing closely to a two- or three-plate nigiri dinner that Angelenos are more than familiar with. Sushi chef Morihiro Onodera founded the celebrated Mori in West LA before helming the counters at Inn Ann and Shiki over the past few years. Onodera finally has his own omakase restaurant in Atwater Village, with masterful preparations and world-class sushi. The price tag to see Onodera in action is $400 per person at the counter though dinners are a more approachable $250 at a table. Kaneyoshi is one of the newer stars in LA’s high-end sushi scene.
The neighborhoods near Dodger Stadium are filled with long-loved dining destinations like Philippe the Original and Guisado’s, but don’t miss our guide for finding lesser-known food and drink picks, spanning artisanal sake, fresh oysters and a Cypress Park slice shop. Keep reading if you need even more dining ideas this month, including a new Korean restaurant from a Michelin-recognized team, a viral bakery in Koreatown and a soba noodle bar in Culver City. Sushi Tama opened in August 2020 with a sleek counter and impeccable nigiri using Japanese-sourced fish. Chef Hideyuki Yoshimoto worked for years in Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market before partnering with Showa Hospitality at this stylish sushi destination in a chic part of West Hollywood/Beverly Grove. This is your guide to what the best sushi city in America has to offer, from the ultimate California roll to spectacular omakase.
Dinners are served from Wednesday to Saturday at 7 p.m., priced at $280 per person before tax, drinks, and tip. Spring is also prime time for road trips, especially now that the desert festival crowds have departed. If you’re heading out to Palm Springs or as far as Yucca Valley, be sure to keep restaurant critic Bill Addison’s recently published restaurant guide handy. Sushi Note in Sherman Oaks expanded to this underground location at the front of a valet stand, joining the ranks of unlikely but still terrific sushi destinations in Los Angeles.
As with most outstanding sushi restaurants in the Valley, Okumura can be found in a sizable strip mall, tucked into a back corner. Chef Ryota Okumura previously worked at Sushi Zo before opening his namesake restaurant, where affordable sushi, sashimi and rolls are composed with the utmost care. Amberjack sushi is treated to a beautiful lime and salt crust, while creamy, custardy chawanmushi lies under tenderly placed uni and ikura. Hand rolls include a black-cod option, as well as a negitoro version where a mixture of fatty tuna and spring onion get wrapped in a crisp seaweed sheath. For a more personalized experience, take a seat at the bar and order the excellent L.A.-style omakase ($165), which makes fried shallots and ponzu sauce feel brand new again. A more affordable sushi-only omakase ($140) comes with three seasonal appetizers, 10 pieces of nigiri, a hand roll and dessert.
This neighborhood sushi restaurant in Toluca Lake flies under the radar, but the reasonable prices and top-notch L.A. Style sushi make Sushi Yuzu a top choice in my book whenever you’d like to choose your own adventure. The crowd-pleasing menu includes some seriously delicious rolls, hot appetizers and sampler plates, many of which come with truffle salt or freshly shaved truffles (not exactly a bonus in my book, but reflective of Yuzu’s overall culinary slant). The lime roll is a study in pure balance with albacore, avocado, black pepper and yuzu-based ponzu dressing drizzled over the entire dish. Order the 10- or 15-piece omakase ($90 or $120), however, and you’ll find the kitchen takes its nigiri just as seriously as more purist L.A.
Sushiyas, minus the difficult reservations and much higher prices. Every night of service, after a brief sequence of kaiseki-style appetizers, Shunji Nakao breaks out a wood block of sliced fish, each brilliant, shining row ready to be prepared for each guest. The luxurious selection always satisfies, as does Sakurai’s ultra-refined sake selection. For $30 less, you can also experience the same menu prepared by Takahiro Miki, Nakao’s right hand, in the room next door. There are a half-dozen ways to cut a fine meal at Arcadia’s Sushi Kisen, including the extremely affordable omakase experience at the counter, where I’ve enjoyed a dinner that rivals Sushi Kaneyoshi or Morihiro for less than half the price of either.
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