Jiro Dreams of Sushi

An email from thoughtful Shuggaluggalugga alerted me to this cool movie: Jiro Dreams of Sushi, about an 85-yr-old 3 star Michelin chef in Japan, his son, and his obsession with perfection. The trailer has me salivating, of course, and twitching at the mildly familiar OCD tendencies and fraught family relationships.

Opens 3/23/12. Shoot me some comments when you go see it.

Takara Sushi

Takara Sushi was the location for a spontaneous dinner out with our crew of city nerds: a project manager, a nurse, a technical writer, a scifi author/ex-punk/health administrator, and an architect. We were drinking in the Castro and I wanted sushi. As usual. None of us had ever eaten there, but it looked full when we walked by and we took that as a good sign.

Walking in, I was immediately dismayed, however, by the Bluefin Tuna on the specials board and menu full of bad choices. Takara seems to make no effort to serve ocean-friendly alternatives, and they're going to drive themselves out of business in the process.

Because I was out with friends and didn't want to leave by then, we made the most of the menu and ordered Walu and Tobiko Nigiri, some rolls, and some vegetarian maki. And several bottles of sake and beer. Mmmm. The quality of the food was good, though not super spectacular. The service was great, and the friendliness made it feel like a nice neighborhood place. The flirtability was high all around, thanks to my good-looking companions and my decision to imbibe. My belly would have been significantly fuller if I hadn't had guilt limiting my ordering. Prices were quite reasonable, and they automatically added the tip for our party of six, which was fine.

If Takara got smart and started being more intentional and forward-thinking about their fish choices, I'd be back in a heartbeat. As it is, I wouldn't recommend you encourage or support them until they do.

Itadakimasu!

ICHI Sushi

So, it's been a while since I posted about a new sushi restaurant in San Francisco, primarily because I really only want to support businesses that are only using sustainably caught fish. And ICHI claims to be one, so I had to go investigate.

The owner/chef used to work at Tokyo Go-Go, which I wasn't a big fan of. They seemed to cater to the lowest common sushi denominator by offering fat rolls full of mayonnaise and spicy sauces that didn't honor the flavor of the fish. Their best draw was the happy hour cocktails. Which is completely their prerogative, I'm just not going to eat there. So when I heard that he came from there, I was skeptical. And then I read some positive reviews that mentioned all of his catering experience. But what most caught my attention was his (and his wife's) positive impact on the community. That showed me they were a business that cared about who they worked with, and I hoped that those kinds of values carried over into their recognition of their role in the food cycle.

Sure enough, they are careful and intentional about where they get their fish and how it has been caught. Though the website doesn't trumpet this aspect as much as I think they should, our server was on top of it, naming the source of our sushi and giving us more information about line vs net caught fish.

And it was good. I expected the menu to reflect a changing variety of fish (like Umi does) but instead they had a set list and would tell patrons in advance if something was not available. The nigiri we had were wild hamachi and shima aji, both with lovely textures and great flavors. The kona kama was cooked perfectly and super tasty. We had simple rolls of albacore avocado (our favorite), futomaki, and oshinko (I know, not fish--whatevs). The server instructed us not to add soy sauce for a few of them as the chef had seasoned them properly already.

The $50 bill for two of us was not cheap, and that included a comped beer for moving seats to accommodate a larger party, but I would consider it worth the price and the friendly service. When you go, take advantage of their knowledge and splurge a bit more on the sustainable fish.

Itadakimasu!

shipping giant Maersk refuses to ship threatened fish

The world's largest container-shipping company refuses to carry seafood species threatened by overfishing, including shark, orange roughy and Chilean sea bass (Patagonian toothfish), as part of its new sustainable seafood policy.

This is such a great example!

Read the rest at the link above. Amen to preserving the fish we have so we can keep eating delicious sushi for years to come.

CleanFish - an aspiration and a movement

So I saw this billboard last week somewhere in SOMA, and it piqued my curiosity enough to illegally text while driving so I wouldn't forget to look it up. I'm glad I did. Here's a line from their website mission: "We believe in a seafood marketplace that values the extraordinary efforts made by producers who are earnest in their pursuit of sustainable practices that deliver to your table fish you can trust."

Me likey. Turns out a good number of restaurants in San Francisco are part of this alliance and are using sustainable fish. Use their Find CleanFish feature to find one in your neighborhood. They highlight recommended fish on this page, and link to pdf's and videos describing healthy farming and responsible cultivation practices for each kind of seafood.

And though of course the brilliant sf sushi website is only reviewing sushi places, it's worth mentioning one or two high-quality restaurants and markets in the city and Bay Area that are making a point to take care of the fish stocks on our planet: take Chez Maman, one of my favorite lunch places in Potrero, or Tokyo Fish Market in Berkeley, where I shop for fresh fresh fish when throwing sushi-making parties.

I encourage you to join the movement so you too "can spark a return back to healthy oceans and regenerative ecosystems." We are so damn lucky to live here, aren't we?