Fast-Service Sushi Goes Gourmet (07/08)

 Tom Nozawa, son of local legend, Kazunori Nozawa, backed by handful of major corporate friends, recently opened SugarFISH in Marina del Rey.  It is the first gourmet fast service sushi concept done pretty much in strict Nozawa omakase (chef choice) style.  

 

Located in a  upbeat, colorful  little neighborhood shopping center, the SugarFISH space is long and dark but in the invigorating Marina ocean air.  One wall is lined with tables and a counter takes up the space along the entire opposite side.  There are no sushi masters, just bar tenders behind the counter because sushi is quickly prepared in the back kitchen for every diner. 

 

Well informed, friendly Asian-American servers guide customers through the detailed menu explanation and wall boards. 

 

The offerings of fish are fresh, light and standard:  Tuna sashimi with ponzu sauce.  Nigiri sushi topped with yellowtail, salmon, albacore, bonito, white shrimp and halibut.  Sushi rolls filled with dollops of blue crab and toro.   Two deluxe wraps of sublime gunkan maki stand out, one topped with shimmery monkfish liver, and the other with lush sea urchin.

 

SugarFISH also offers a complete and full meal billed as a “trust me” or omakase, (chef’s choice menu),  determined by the day’s market.   Happily and unlike the original Nozawa, it addes up to a reasonable amount and includes tax and tip.  

 

Nozawa rules rule, and are boldly printed on the straightforward menus in  the third person througout the list of instructions. 

 

For example, according to the SugarFISH menu, Nozawa rice is described as “light, airy rice.”  A detailed notice tells why white shrimp is chosen (flavor) and how that flavor is sealed in “with blanching.”   Just in case some customer never cooked or watched a Food Television Network, a full explanation of blanching follows.  There are no-nonsense rules listed for “how to eat to enjoy the full flavors.” The “tuna sashimi or Tartate must be eaten with scallion and coated with ponzu sauce.”  Don’t even think about looking at that soy sauce bottle, buster.  

 

Nozawa is legendary as the sushi genius tho insists that diners in his restaurants  “show respect for tradition, sushi dining etiquette, the food itself and the other customers.” 

 

He was trained in Japan and was known for researching and learning how to prepare the most exotic and unique kinds of fish, as well as the most authentic and traditional.  And, of course, freshness was key. 

 

Thus both diner and sushi master follow the rules for the best sushi experience possible.  For those diners who do not know, Nozawa will teach. 

 

His arrival in the United States changed not a thing, and Nozawa also came at a time when sushi was becoming popular in a mainstream sense.  Of course, in order to get to this point, it had to be introduced as something with an American flair to it.  This translated into hiding the raw fish in a rolled seaweed or nori cone, and adding familiar ingredients to the stuffing where it showed on top.  Avocado and mayo were added to crab and mayo) and to make things even more friendly,  it was named after it’s birthplace of California.  And so came into being the California Roll.

 

From the start, Nozawa had made such an impact on the local L.A. scene with his traditional Edo or Tokyo style of sushi in the 80’s that he catapulted the sushi master ladder from the friendly Asuka in Westwood, an environment in which he “admired the English language abilities of the staff, but was surprised by their lack of sushi making skills.”  It was, in fact, his epiphany “at their ineptness” that inspired Nozawa not only to teach a thing or two to them, but to everyone else he reach in Anchorage, Aspen, Denver, Detroit, New York, Portland and Santa Barbara.  This included Korean, Chinese, Japanese and American chefs.

 

After earning a national reputation among his peers, in 1987 Nozawa opened his own high quality “love it” or “hate it place” in the valley.  He served only traditional sushi in a simple, no-frills setting.   It was a major success with his chefs opening spin offs within a few years and spreading the idea all over the valley and westside L.A.  Close to legendary by this time, Nozawa could well afford to put off customers who did not obey.

 

For diners in a hurry or new to sushi, sugarFISH is perfect.  For us sashimi or non-white rice lovers, and those seeking out a more personal experience with original dishes,  Nozawa disciple Jimmy Wu owner-chef of Ahi Tuna in Studio City is  still the man to see.   

 

sugarFISH (www.SugarFISHsushi.com), Asuka (www.asukasushi.com), Ahi Tuna (www.ahisushi.com)