ursamajor | why you should ALWAYS sit at the bar at a sushi place :)

because

noghri and i looked at his cabinet, looked at his fridge, and said, "ugh, not pasta again." so we go trotting up the road to our local sushi joint. now, we're sushi afficionados, so we have a pretty good idea of what we like - i'll eat the raw quail eggs with gusto (he shudders and says "slimy! salmonella!"), he likes his stuff a bit spicier (i'm gasping for milk and he's piling more on), and neither of us will touch octopus or squid (too chewy), but other than that, we're pretty open.

we're usually there twice a month or so, so they recognize us, but this was the first time that we'd seated ourselves at the bar rather than waiting for a table. first advantage? no middleman. you're talking directly to the chef who's going to feed you; you can advise them of your likes and dislikes, and they can make suggestions.

second advantage? you get to watch artists at work. his knife skills alone were worth the price of admission, and you really start to understand just how talented they are.

third advantage - you just might get a little taste of some things going out. or a little extra on your plate :)

we opened last night with a nice assortment of nigiri - salmon, tuna, hamachi, and the now-in-season amaebi (yay shrimp!). maki rolls followed - spicy tuna with scallions, torched salmon wrapped around a cucumber-avocado roll, at least one that i'm forgetting. finally, we said, "make something special!" and he really went to town, peeling a cucumber into a curly round and wrapping that around toro, hamachi, sake and more cucumber (julienned this time, though).

one of these days, we're going to have to do this at oishii's, at 3 pm on a weekend when it's hopefully a little less crazy - just sit and talk directly to the chefs, because if this is what sake can do for us when we sit at the bar ... oh, man. :) (must also do bluefin one night, because i've been doing them an injustice lately and only getting takeout from them.)

and, okay, i'll stop talking about sushi long enough to wish

coffeechica a happy birthday! *sends happy destressing vibes down the pike*