TOKYO=SUSHI

Tokyo=sushi or is it sushi=tokyo? Tokyo is the epicenter of the best sushi in the world.  Tokyo is the place that launched sushi into the modern age and propelled it around the world. You can buy sushi here at 7-11, pick it off a conveyor belt, eat it as a snack, or enjoy a high-class dining experience at a high-class establishment.   Eating out last night in Tokyo at an upscale sushi restaurant proved to me that nobody does it better.

Can we just focus on the atmosphere for a moment?

Picture a cinnabar red lacquered counter at least 50′ long.

Add half a dozen hair shorn sushi chefs, the equivalent of modern-day samurai, wielding knives with the skill of a surgeon.The atmosphere is serious but decidedly cordial.

Orders are shouted and relayed from chef to chef in deep baritone voices that all concerned take heed of.

The straw basket pictured below contained the sushi rice. Each chef had one by his side. All implements, dishes and sauces  were within reach of each master chef.

There is NO music playing in this restaurant.  REPEAT!!  There is NO music playing. It would be a distraction in this most mindful of settings.  The banter between the clients and the chefs provide the perfect soundtrack.

Very few sushi items placed on our plates required soy sauce.  They’d been seasoned individually.  We were explicitly told not to add soy sauce.

When a sushi chef retreated to the kitchen, they faced their customers as a sign of respect, before walking backwards into the   noren curtains.  Nice touch.

R E S P E C T!  You did not come here to eat a California roll, but to eat the freshest , most meticulously prepared fish that the world has to offer.