On 2007-12-14 12:29:58 -0800, War > said:

> HA! Funny you mention Azuma. For 10 years I was a regular there, and
> the itamae at the time, Sato-san is directly responsible or turning my
> love of sushi into an obsession (I would spent hours at the sushi bar
> talking with him about sushi and Japanese cuisine and he would always
> be excited to share with me the seasonal items and sundries that most
> gaijin would probably not want to try).

I think this is how many of us went from occasional diners to sushi-hounds.

Before him was a guy named "Mike" at Sushi-Kura in Costa Mesa. I almost
always try to find out a sushi chef's real name and call him by that
when he has an Americanized version. He had me trying everything. A
nice guy, but not really talkative.

My best early experience, which really lodged the hook in my cheek, was
with Yoshi-san at Uoko in Lake Forest, California when I lived in Aliso
Viejo. He wised me to all kinds of fish, trotted out oddities of all
kinds to see how far my palate would stretch. He hipped me to all kinds
of concepts, words, phrases and so forth. One time when I was spending
a weekend in LA he got a yellow-pages directory to find some good
restaurants for me to try. He was a genuinely nice guy.

And he moved to Tucson! I am not sure he is still there or not, but I
believe he is. And wherever he goes, he's gotta be impressing people.
Not only was he a capable and diverse chef, but he was really smart and
quick in a personal sense. When new people would come in, he'd turn to
me and predict what they would order, and he'd be right. When you asked
him a question about fish or season or whatever, he'd really answer you
completely, rather than giving you the one-liner. Of course I made a
point of coming just a little past the rush, so he'd have time to relax
a bit.

So do you guys know Yoshi-san? He oughta be about 45-ish now or so. I
supposed he could be a Mike or Tony by now...
--
///---