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.

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?


--
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/ The Sushi FAQ
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiotaku/ The Sushi Otaku Blog
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiyapedia/ Sushi-Ya-Pedia Restaurant Finder
HTTP://www.theteafaq.com/ The Tea FAQ
HTTP://www.jerkyfaq.com/ The Jerky FAQ

Warren Ransom > wrote:
>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.
>
>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?

Tony Bourdain outed one in NYC in one of his books.
I don't think it was supposed to be a secret, but it
sounded like it would have zero walk-in traffic, being
deep inside an office building that would otherwise be
deserted at night.

--Blair

Warren Ransom wrote:
> 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.
>
> 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?

Never heard of such a thing.. are they mnore situated around cities or
suburbs? Would they serve unusual animals?

--
Dan

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.
--
///---

> Tony Bourdain outed one in NYC in one of his books.
> I don't think it was supposed to be a secret, but it
> sounded like it would have zero walk-in traffic, being
> deep inside an office building that would otherwise be
> deserted at night.

This was probably Sakagura in midtown NYC.

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.....


--
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/ The Sushi FAQ
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiotaku/ The Sushi Otaku Blog
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiyapedia/ Sushi-Ya-Pedia Restaurant Finder
HTTP://www.theteafaq.com/ The Tea FAQ
HTTP://www.jerkyfaq.com/ The Jerky FAQ

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On 2007-07-10 07:17:43 -0700, "JP" > said:

>> Tony Bourdain outed one in NYC in one of his books.
>> I don't think it was supposed to be a secret, but it
>> sounded like it would have zero walk-in traffic, being
>> deep inside an office building that would otherwise be
>> deserted at night.
>
> This was probably Sakagura in midtown NYC.

I think that was one I looked for (unsuccessfully) a few years back.
Anybody have the address on that one?
--
///---

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.....


--
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/ The Sushi FAQ
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiotaku/ The Sushi Otaku Blog
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiyapedia/ Sushi-Ya-Pedia Restaurant Finder
HTTP://www.theteafaq.com/ The Tea FAQ
HTTP://www.jerkyfaq.com/ The Jerky FAQ

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

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.....


--
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/ The Sushi FAQ
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiotaku/ The Sushi Otaku Blog
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiyapedia/ Sushi-Ya-Pedia Restaurant Finder
HTTP://www.theteafaq.com/ The Tea FAQ
HTTP://www.jerkyfaq.com/ The Jerky FAQ


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

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.....


--
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/ The Sushi FAQ

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Jul 9, 11:19 pm, 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.....

--
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/ The Sushi FAQ
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiotaku/ The Sushi Otaku Blog
HTTP://www.sushifaq.com/sushiyapedia/ Sushi-Ya-Pedia Restaurant Finder
HTTP://www.theteafaq.com/ The Tea FAQ
HTTP://www.jerkyfaq.com/ The Jerky FAQ

In article <2007071007382616807-somewhere@sunnycalif>,
Gerry > wrote:
>On 2007-07-10 07:17:43 -0700, "JP" > said:

>> This was probably Sakagura in midtown NYC.
>
>I think that was one I looked for (unsuccessfully) a few years back.
>Anybody have the address on that one?

Google says 211 E 43rd St. #B1

Seth

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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