warren ransom wrote:
> Gerry wrote:
>> On 2007-07-09 17:51:06 -0700, Warren Ransom >
>> said:
>>
>>> anyone ever come across any secret sushi bars? My uncle told me he's
>>> going to take me to one in the next few weeks, kind of a hidden
>>> basement sushi-ya, secret knock kind of place with the stipulation
>>> that I tell no one about it, where it is, etc.... But he said it's
>>> some of the best stuff he's had so I'm pretty interested.
>>
>> Where is it on planet earth?
>>
>>> It made me wonder how common this kind of thing is. One thought is
>>> that it's not a licensed restaurant, but it could just be a small
>>> place that they would rather keep to the regulars. Either way, I'm
>>> there. Anyone else ever find themselves at anything like this?
>>
>> I could tell you about a couple--if I never wanted to return. :-)
>>
>> I'll be interested to hear your input after you've been there. I know
>> a couple of places *I* feel uncomfortable telling others of, since I'm
>> fearful they'll get too busy and lose what I like about them. Like an
>> attendant sushi-chef rather than a harried, rushed, successful one.
>>
>> There's one that almost qualifies in south county, Mission Veijo,
>> "Naka Chan". Hero-san is truly a gifted chef. He can do it all. He
>> runs his shop with his wife and daughter. He tells me that in Japan
>> he did everything. He worked as a fugu chef at one time. He said it
>> was just too scary. Another chef had a client who died. He said he
>> left the shop after that. But he's done everyhing imaginable in
>> Japanese cooking. The people go in there for the usual mainstream
>> sushi, never trying anything new. The restaurant is good sized, maybe
>> 15 tables plus two 4-6 tops in a tatami room. But the sushi bar holds
>> only about 8 people. I've never seen any Japanese people there. Mostly
>> gaijin at the tables gorging on the teriyaki, tempura and the stock #3
>> sushi plate.
>>
>> Nancy and I went there, went omakase fast and this guy was clearly
>> very good. He had a nice long second menu of interesting izakaya
>> items. But when we ordered them he said he didn't most of them. He
>> said nobody had ordered those things, just off the regular folding
>> set-dinner menu, so he stopped ensuring their availablity. But
>> knowing we were interested in that stuff he started using his
>> creativity, and was throwing us all kinds of delightful curve-balls.
>> He was really excited about having somebody who really appreciated
>> him. We started going pretty regularly and the people who were long
>> term regulars were curious about what we orderd.
>>
>> What ordering, we said, hiro-san decides what we're eating. They
>> couldn't understand that at all. He just gives you wantever he wants,
>> they asked. Of course, we responded. I remember once he looked up and
>> them and said, "They trust me." I really liked that. Particularly
>> because these sushi-rut diners had been eating there for years.
>>
>> Though it's very busy Thursday through Saturday pre-movie dinnertime,
>> we had big plans. We were sure we could get him reviewed by a local
>> paper. But he turned us down. No, no, he shook his head, I'll just
>> have a couple of months where it's too busy and people will complain
>> about everything. It's too much work. This, he gestured at the
>> half-full place, is just about perfect.
>>
>> So in a way he didn't exactly want us to spread the word. We moved
>> away from the area and haven't seen him in a few years. He's a really
>> sweet guy.
>
> Sounds perfect....
>
> The place to which I'm referring is in NYC, and it's definitely one of
> those 'hidden' ones that no one would ever chance upon apparently. He's
> going to take me in a few weeks, so I'll report back (without giving the
> address of course, I can't break a promise). If I can, I may do omakase,
> really test the place out. well see.....
>
>

um... oops? this is what you get when you use a free Usenet account.....

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