In my last post, I reviewed Chef Akira Yoshizumi’s Yohei Omakase, which is his standard menu. You can see the menu here. After that meal, I asked Chef Yoshizumi for my next reservation and made sure to note that I wanted the extended menu, also know as his Yoshi Omakase. This menu not only has more items, but also exclusive and premium items that are usually only found in high-end sushi-ya’s in Japan.
Having been there several times in talking with Chef Yoshizumi, he has shared many of his experiences and passion in Edomae sushi. It is interesting to note that his career in sushi actually started domestically in San Francisco. His career has its ups and downs, but it is a very inspiring story about his dedication to the art of Edomae sushi. Continue reading “Tabemono in SF Bay Area – Sushi Yoshizumi – The Extended Menu – Part 2”
Despite the many excellent omakase restaurants that have opened in the last couple of years, there are only a couple that I would say can rival what is offered in Tokyo. Recently review, Sasaki Sushi is one of them and it is conveniently located in San Francisco proper. The other restaurant is Sushi Yoshizumi in San Mateo, and what I consider the overall best in the Bay Area. In fact, if you move Sushi Yoshizumi to Tokyo, he’ll rank right up there with some of the best I had in Japan.
Chef Akira Yoshizumi is the chef and owner of this one star Michelin restaurant. Despite the fame of having a Michelin Star, the minute open the door to the restaurant, you are warmly greeted with an “Irasshaimase!” with a big welcoming smile. Throughout the meal, you’ll see this smile and he’ll happily converse with you in friendly and warm way that just makes you comfortable and allows to to appreciate eat dish he serves you even more.
One of the tough parts of wanting to eat omakase at really good sushi places in San Francisco is that you can not go at the last minute. Really good places need to be booked days, or even weeks in advance. Additionally, a couple of my favorite spots, like Sasaki Sushi, are not even open on Sundays. This was the case for us on this particular Sunday, when we were craving good sushi at the last moment. However, the last time we went to one spontaneously, we had a disappointing experience at the newly opened Robin (good fish selection but lacks fundamentals), as such we were hesitant to try another new restaurant. However, I had Kinjo on my list of eats since it opened in the beginning of the year. Since nothing else was available, I checked “Opentable” and noticed they had a lot of time slots available. I called the restaurant to make sure we could get bar-counter seating, as that is a must have when eating omakase-style sushi. They confirmed that their 6:30pm and 8:30pm slots were open for the bar counter, and thus started our night of what was of lower expectations. However, this turned out to easily be one of my top 5 sushi recommendations in the not just San Francisco, but all of the Bay Area, California. Continue reading “Tabemono in SF: Really good Modern Edomae Omakase at Kinjo”
Kenzo in the Napa Valley is an ambitious opening from Kenzo Estate winery owners Kenzo and Natsuko Tsujimoto. Interestingly, Kenzo Tsujimoto was the founder of Capcom prior to his ownership of Kenzo Estate winery. Besides the winery, the husband and wife couple have four restaurants and tasting rooms throughout Japan where they bring the Napa Valley wines to Japan. Now with Kenzo, they plan to bring an authentic taste and experience of Japan to the Napa Valley area with a focus on kaiseki and sushi. Continue reading “Tabemono in SF Bay Area – Kenzo in Napa, Good Kaiseki and Sushi but not Great”
Hokkaido is the northern island of Japan. We flew from Haneda airport near Tokyo to Asahikawa using the ANA foreigner air tickets which is available only if you purchase before arriving to Japan.
Traveling abroad with a family with four young children is not easy, but Japan is one of the safest countries with a wide variety of attractions and great food. This combination makes it a popular destination in my household. The only challenge is that a family of six is hard to accommodate by Japanese standards. We need to plan out accommodations and what to do and where to eat carefully as Japan tends to be cater to small groups. In fact most hotels accommodate groups up to 3-4 people unless you know what to look for and book as early as possible to secure the few rooms that can accommodate a large family.
In our previous trips we travelled through the Kanto to Kansai regions of Japan, so this time we really wanted to experience other parts of this beautiful country. Our selection narrowed down to whether we wanted to spend time in Hokkaido or Kyushu and the choice was further easier to make given that we will be taking the kids during their summer break, which meant hot and humid weather in the Honshu and Kyushu islands. Thus, the vacation was focused on Hokkaido to avoid the muggy, hot heat the rest of Japan faces during the late June and early July months. In fact, during our stay, the weather for the most part was great in Hokkaido, outside of rain for a day or two during the first two days. We even needed jackets a couple of times in the mountain areas, but otherwise experienced very enjoyable weather. Continue reading “Tabemono Vacation – June/July 2016 Trip to Japan, Hokkaido and Tohoku Itinerary”
