Katsuya faces off with Michael Mina : East Meets West

Michael Mina and Katsuya Uechi got together for a special East Meets West menu at Mina's XIV last night, drawing a crowd for the 7-course tasting menu that featured a dish from both chefs at each course. A geisha (she gets a lot of work from Katsuya, it seems), and Louis XIV roamed the room to amp up the Japan vs. the West theme. Katsuya shone on the fish preparations, of course, including sliced tai snapper sashimi (above), big eye tuna nigiri sushi, and a fried scallop lollipop with truffle shavings (below). I also loved the braised egg and savory chicken meatball of the Jidori chicken course. But Mina also pulled off some winners. If I were to find myself at XIV again, I would order tapioca-crusted tai snapper with broccoli rabe and white soy vinaigrette, which is on the XIV menu. Mina's scallops were tender and full of flavor in a light, buttery sauce. Dessert was an assortment of petit fours, with Mina's burfi-like cashew ball (left) rising above the rest. Watch out for more special pairings and events at Katsuya and XIV.

(This was a hosted dinner.)

Taste test: Takumi is Little Tokyo's newest sushi surprise

hirami or halibut sushi

After weeks of sad little rushed lunches of supermarket sushi at my desk, I was starting to crave the real thing. I knew that somewhere out there people weren't eating ice-cold rice topped with completely tasteless tuna. But where to go? The Westside is bursting with great sushi bars, but that's not an alternative on a Friday night after work. Saito is good, but perhaps a bit claustrophobic. I love Sushi Gen, but I'm not willing to fight the crowds on a weekend evening.
So it was off to Takumi, where Hiro from Sushi Gen set up shop a few months ago with the former owner of Shin on Hillhurst. We snagged seats at the bar and watched as our neighbors inhaled quantities of uni and live scallops. Everyone was also ordering sea snail served in a giant shell. We went a little more subdued and started with lovely halibut sushi topped with a bit of red pepper, a beautiful huge bowl of ankimo (monkfish liver) with seaweed, a rich, melty plate of grilled butterfish, breathlessly fresh snapper with real wasabi and lemon and a trio of small, briny yet mild Kumamoto oysters from Washington state. We finished with orders of excellent toro sushi.
Takumi doesn't seem nearly as crowded as it should be for sushi of that quality, so get there now before the hordes from Sushi Gen figure it out. It's not cheap, though -- the toro helped bump our total up to $80 with two large beers. It wasn't a huge quantity of food but it was a completely satisfying meal. The room is pleasant and quiet, with soft jazz accompanying some serious fish-eating. I got a peek at the bill of the couple next to me, and it was $230 -- now that must have been a lot of sushi (omakase is $80 per person).
Takumi
333 E. 2nd St.
Little Tokyo
213-626-1793

Luke Thompson, connoisseur of sushi and hooters

I must say, I was a touch skeptical when I saw that my friend Luke Y. Thompson had reviewed a sushi bar for the OC Weekly. I mean, I find his film reviews amusing, although not everyone agrees. But I wasn't so sure about his taste in food -- I know he likes sushi, yet he also consumes more fast food than seems prudent or chowish. But, more fool me -- Luke did a very nice job reviewing Takaraya in Orange. And just like one of his food-reviewing mentors, Meredith Brody, it was fun to see who he went with -- in this case, David and Julie, frequent commentors on Luke's and the late Cathy Seipp's blog. And he didn't mention hooters once.

Eater's Digest, 1/22

I had a lovely lunch with Layne at Azami Sushi on Melrose the other day to talk about her budding Manifeasto blog. Azami is already much-beloved by the Chowhounds, and it's nice to know about another good sushi place striking distance from my office. The sushi chefs and waitstaff are all women, but I certainly couldn't tell whether their hands were too hot to make sushi! We ordered ultra-fresh nigiri including halibut, beautiful shiny tuna that seemed to be glowing, yellowtail, mackerel, a tempura mushroom dish that wasn't super-successful and spinach ohitashi. Everything was carefully and modestly garnished so nothing needed extra soy sauce. I hear the omakase is wonderful here, so hopefully we'll be back soon.
Update: As of mid-2008, Azami is under different ownership, so proceed with caution.