鮨食べる人 アメリカ人

The hamaguri that Kurosaki-san sources are huge and tender - almost an oxymoron for this type of clam. To be honest, I'm not sure I can think of another sushiya that serves hamaguri of higher quality. Last April, it was part of the tsumami, served in poaching liquid. But last November was even more special - the ni-hama served over rice that was soaked in a sweet dashi with clear flavors of sudachi. It's exceedingly rare to find this hamaguri prep at modern sushiya, even in Japan, and it's a style probably made most famous by the late Mikkio-san at #宮葉, one of Tokyo's oldest sushiya. Seeing this style appear at a modern shop like Kurosaki is in some ways surprising, but also precisely in line with Kurosaki-san's focus on simplicity and his frequent nods to tradition. Less

Both of my meals at Kurosaki last year had a mid-meal standout item. Too big in flavor and size to be a tsumami course, but also not quite sushi either. In November, it was grilled sanma wrapped around matchsticks of grilled matsutake. Large sanma are typically used for grilling with salt, but this one had a shoyu-based glaze. It wrapped the mushrooms almost entirely, resulting in layers of earth textures that tasted like the season.
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In April, a huge slice of grilled miso-marinated Nodoguro was served simply with toasted nori and a large swipe of high quality wasabi. Another study in layers of texture and flavor, ranging from sweet to smoky to salty to herbal - and back again. Tough for me to understate the brilliance here. Less

Ingredient quality at Kurosaki is pretty much at the highest level, in my opinion. That includes those places where you need to raffle just for the chance to make a reservation, or where you might be able to buy a seat in an online auction for $1000 (or more). Across the board - shiromi, hikarimono, clams, tuna, and even ancillary items like kimo or nori - is a notable standout. The sushi is medium-sized, and the neta appears to be cut a bit larger relative to size of the shari. There is distinct sourness to the rice seasoning that isn't overpowering. Elegant. Less

Each one of my visits to Kurosaki, a chawanmushi has appeared mid-course. Last November, it was kobako kani with its roe. In April, it was botan ebi, also with roe. Elegant is a good descriptor for the food here, and the chawanmushi is no exception. It is a super smooth, unbroken custard, with an ultra-thin layer of dashi on top. The dashi isn't watery, but more like a concentrated stock, similar to how a layer of caramel might float on top of a well-executed flan. Less

I have a hard time describing Kurosaki-san's style. Elegant is one adjective that comes to mind. It doesn't seem to follow any formula. And the pacing, mixture of appetizers and sushi, and preparations feel more modern. But the flavors are balanced and traditional. The flavor profile is definitely not subtle - there are abundant sweet, sour, and rich flavors throughout - but none are overpowering and seem out of place. In fact, some of the flavors are even hyper-traditional, including use of irizake and a hamaguri marinade that is most famous at one of Tokyo's oldest sushiya (#宮葉).
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Back in November, the meal started with sashimi - shirako soup, matsukawa karei irizake, meji maguro, and sawara wara-yaki. Each slice of fish was served with a different condiment as well. Less

Hatou, November 2023. Sushi grid is somehow in reverse order, which makes it look cooler? The sushi was what you'd expect based on Kumagiri-san's training. Simple and medium-sized, with medium strength aka shari. Similar to Amamoto in those regards. The neta quality was quite high, and the overall impact was "light" and almost refreshing. The pacing of the meal and ingredient selection was exceptionally tasteful. Less

Tsumami on my April visit were quite a bit different, and showcased a variety of cooking techniques rather than raw produce. Mehikari was grilled, komochi yari ika was served nimono, kinme as mushimono, and so forth.
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The quality of the ingredients was really on display here, including the huge "crunchy" torigai (the only sashimi). My favorite was the very large hamaguri that was presented simply in its own poaching liquid. It has pleasant chew, but was also notably tender. Less

These days, where "omakase" has become a verb in America, the distinctions between what are "typical" sushi versus kappo has become blurred. Pre-2010, "omakase" in America (if it was even called that) might mean you were basically served part of a typical kaiseki course - everything from a hassun plate to owan - before sushi started hitting the counter. In the past 7 or 8 years, this has evolved a bit. The bites are smaller and require less cooking, and we call them "tsumami". But they rarely resemble sushi tsumami in Japan, which are almost without fail raw items with one or two ingredients, and maybe a piece of grilled fish.
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In that vein, Kumagiri-san's tsumami might look typical to a well-heeled American diner. To a Japanese diner, however, they are exactly what a kappo or kaiseki restaurant would serve - a somewhat shocking choice for a sushiya. Indeed, ebi-imo ankake and kani served with its own roe and dashi are washoku staples in winter. Even the buri prep - cut into fat matchsticks and tossed in grated daikon - is something you're much more likely to find at a kappo meal.
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The kicker here is that these items are so tastefully calibrated that these serve admirably as appetizers for a sushi course. The flavoring is light, the portions are modest, and the natural flavors of the ingredients shine through. It is really delicious, without distracting at all from the fact that this is still a sushi restaurant. In the US @chefderekwilcox is probably the only one who was able to pull off a similar feat, drawing on his training at both washoku restaurants and sushiya. Less

See that little white "shaded" area on this piece of tuna? That is a sliver of suji (tendon), indicating this is "hagashi" - tender belly meat cut from between the sinew for maximum "melting" tenderness. Most people reading these captions probably know what hagashi is, but it's always nice to see some visual evidence of this ultra-luxurious cut.
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Arai offers a nigiri-only lunch a few days every week, and that was the menu I enjoyed here back in September. It's pretty substantial for lunch course and at around ¥40k is decent value when the volume, variety and overall quality is considered. Here's a rundown of the course:
1. Mitsuba w/agedashi tofu
2. Karei konbujime
3. Sumi ika
4. Kisu
5. Kohada
6. Shiro amadai
7. Mirukui ("black" mirugai)
8. Huge "oni" aji
9. Katsuo-don
10. Akami
11. Chutoro
12. Chiaigishi
13. Hagashi jabara
14. Nakazumi (large kohada)
15. Wild kuruma ebi
16. Mushi kuro awabi
17. Asari clam broth
18. Ikura
19. Aka uni (Amakusa)
20. "BBQ"-style anago (Amakusa)
21. Tamago Less

I last visited Sushi Arai in 2015. At that point, he had just ceased using two types of shari, and was still in a basement space that would later become a second counter helmed by @mei3158. The restaurant was surprisingly austere - wooden tiles on the wall with the day's menu, low ceilings, and no pottery or ikebana. It reminded me more of #鶴八 or #新橋しみづ than one of Ginza's sushi temples, or #すし匠 , where Arai-san spent the bulk of his training years. It was only a few years later, when Arai-san became yet another impossible booking, that a regular told me this was deliberate choice - that he sought not to emulate his master Nakazawa-san, but rather the style of sushi he personally loved. That Arai-san's vision was a sort of hyper-high-end traditional sushiya.
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The ensuing years have only made bookings here more difficult, and I had basically given up on the idea of returning until a friend who is a regular invited me. The "inside joke" of only allowing pictures of maguro gives the impression that Arai-san is a maguro specialist. And that's not entirely wrong - on some nights as many as 7 or 8 different tuna cuts may be served. But it's still definitely a joke...because Arai-san has incredible range. Flavors are powerful (strong shari, big nigiri), classic, and executed basically flawlessly across the full range of edomae techniques, from sujime (kohada) to konbujime (karei) to various cooked items (kuruma ebi, awabi, anago). The ingredient quality across the board is about as high as it gets, yet - just like the sushiya Arai-san emulates - nothing necessarily stands out or steals the show. For me, most items here approach a personal platonic ideal. The impact is almost like ur-sushi - a template for comparison for all others.
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Arai-san's current space is a few floors upstairs and brighter but still fairly basic, with the exception of a beautifully reflective laquer counter. There is one apprentice whose only job the entire meal is to polish continuously after each nigiri is served - the sort of grunt work that is probably even below the level of plating tsumami or preparing the shari. It is so extraordinary you can see your own reflection while eating. Less