I have always wanted to eat nigiri zushi made by the master Ono Jiro (小野二郎さん), long before he became famous around the world.
His restaurant,
Sukiyabashi Jiro (すきゃぱし次郎), came up when I went through books and magazines long ago for information on top sushi
restaurants in Tokyo. In
the book “Sukiyabashi Jiro Makes Seasonal Nigiri Zushi すきゃぱし次郎 旬を握ゐ”, the author Satomi Shinzo explained Jiro-san’s
sushi in great details with photographs and illustrations, from the nigiri of
the four seasons, everything-you-want-to-know-about Hon Maguro (本鮪Japanese blue fin tuna), preparation of fish, nori and rice, to the technique of
making nigiri zushi. NHK (Japan’s public television organization)
produced a series called “Professionals” and one episode featured Ono Jiro as a
sushi shokunin (鮨職人). A shokunin (職人) is an artisan who has mastered the skills, achieved the ability to
create beauty and developed the attitude that it is his social
obligation to work his best. Jiro-san well
deserves the title as he has dedicated his life to make the “perfect”
sushi. He went to Tsukiji Market every
morning to buy the best quality fish until he turned 70. Even though he is 86 now (2012), he works behind his sushi counter everyday
because of his commitment to his quest.
It was his shokunin spirit,
not his fame, which fueled my desire to eat his sushi.
We had not
eaten at Sukiyabashi Jiro until
recently because it was very difficult to get a reservation. I tried twice over the years without
success. It did not, and does not, take walk-ins. First timers, I heard, were required to have
an introduction from regular customers. After
it was awarded three Michelin stars in 2007, foreign television
travel and food show hosts and foodies flocked there despite its
well known unwillingness to serve non-Japanese speaking customers. Interestingly, Sukiyabashi Jiro is not rated high on the Japanese restaurant
review site 食べ口グ (literal translation: “Eat Blog”,
http://tabelog.com/ ). Its rating is below Mizutani (水谷), Harukata
(青空), Sushizen (すし善) and Kyubei (久兵衛), just to name a few other sushi restaurants in the same part of Tokyo. None but one of our friends want to eat at Sukiyabashi
Jiro.
Hashimoto-san,
our good friend who has
eaten there, is in the restaurant business and she gets
the inside scoop on the industry. Knowing our interest in Sukiyabashi Jiro, she updated us from time to time. She would say, “You better
hurry, Jiro-san is getting old.” When Jiro-san was absent from his
restaurant, she would sound a
warning, “Jiro-san did not go to work today; he did not feel well”, followed a few days
later
with the good news that “Jiro-san is back but you should really
hurry.” Eventually, Hashimoto-san scored a
lunch reservation for us.
We learned some facts from Hashimoto-san on eating at Sukiyabashi
Jiro. No alcohol was served during the meal because drinking dulled the taste buds and prevented the diners from appreciating the sushi.
The
prix fixe meal, consisting of about twenty pieces of sushi with
different neta (fish
topping) served rapidly one after another, lasted about 20 minutes. The diners ate the sushi as soon as it was placed
on the serving plate so that the fish and rice would be at the optimal
temperature and did not get dry from sitting around. The reason of serving sushi in rapid succession was to keep the diner focused.
“If
they want to drink and talk, they should go somewhere else,” according
to Jiro-san.
On the way to lunch, I was filled with excitement and apprehension. I was excited because finally my dream of eating at Sukiyabashi Jiro was coming true, and apprehended because I feared how our lunch would turn out.
We had been disappointed by some very well regarded restaurants in the past, and would this be another one?
When we arrived,
we were seated before the son Ono Yoshikazu (小野禎一). Jiro-san was making sushi for four other
customers. There was a menu for each diner
announcing the order of sushi being served that day. The meal went exactly the way described by
Hashimoto-san. There was just one surprise – Jiro-san did not make our sushi!! He made it for the four customers who came before
us and the customer after us, but not us.
(A note: it was the son who
cut the fish; Jiro-san had stopped doing it for a while).
We were
disappointed beyond words because the whole purpose of going there was to eat
sushi made by Jiro-san. Otherwise, we would
have gone somewhere else for a lot less money and no hassle. We could have gone any time to its own
branch in Roppongi Hills (operated
by his second son) for ¥10,000 less per person. Mrs. Akujiki
was angry. She was going to tell Jiro-san
that either he made our sushi or we walked out.
I stopped her because I believed that her protest would be futile, and it
would just embarrass Hashimoto-san. After
three or four pieces of sushi, Mrs. Akujiki
stopped eating. She sat there with her
back straight and a displeased look on her face. She was staging a diner’s strike. The poor piece of sushi on her serving plate sat untouched. To lessen the tension, I continued with my
course at machine gun speed. When I
finished, I started eating her piece, and eventually finished her course as
well. As bad as it sounds, our
experience was not the worst at Sukiyabashi
Jiro. Someone reported on the internet that when
his wife could not keep up with the speed and requested for a brief
break, the chef simply took
away her sushi. Now, that was BAD.
Our disappointment
was severe. But what really ruined our
meal was the stern demeanor of Jiro-san and his son. The whole time there was not a faintest trace of smile, not a slightest nod of the head, not any sign of acknowledgement. They came across as arrogant,
cold and indifferent. We have never been to a restaurant that we
felt so unwelcomed.
As a rule, Mrs. Akujiki always complimented the
chef at the end of a good meal. In
return, the chef and staff always smiled, bowed, and thanked her. At Sukiyabahi Jiro, both sides ignored each other when we
left. I had brought along my copy of Sukiyabashi Jiro Shiyunwonigiru for
autograph, but I saw no point to ask for it.
That was how one
of my most anticipated meals went. Mrs. Akujiki said to me afterward, “Be careful what you wish
for”.
I thought a lot
about the whole affair afterward. What had
happened? Were we unreasonable to be
angry?
The sushi made
by Jiro’s son was good, although with my unsophisticated palate I honestly could
not say that it was better than what we had at other well respected sushi restaurants. I wonder if I would feel differently if our
sushi was made by Jiro-san. That we will
not know. We felt that we were
badly treated. I suspect that the unfriendly service is driven
by Jiro-san’s attitude that he only wants to make sushi for those who
he thinks can
appreciate it. That could very
well explain
why he delegated first time customers like us to the son. I can understand that sort of thinking. I can accept an artisan being
proud. But I do not think that can
justify the father and son, as restaurateurs, be so arrogant and rude to their
customers.
Will we go back? I think not, unless we are in the
company of one of Jiro-san’s
valued customers. Otherwise, I’d go to Mizutani or Harukata instead.
EPILOGUE
We ate that
evening at Bird Land, a yakitori
restaurant in the same basement across from Sukiyabashi
Jiro. When the chef owner, Toshihiro Wada san (和田利弘さん), chatted with us after dinner outside
his restaurant, Jiro-san emerged from his own place. Wada-san knew that we had lunch at Jiro that
day but he was unaware of our experience.
He told us about Jiro-san’s incredibly soft hands. Before we knew, Wada-san was introducing us
to Jiro-san, and the four of us bowed, smiled and shook hands. Jiro-san’s hands were indeed incredibly soft;
we could not feel any bone. We stood
there for a few minutes making polite conversations before we bid good
night. The whole time during that brief
encounter, we wondered what went through Jiro-san’s mind. For sure he remembered us. We sat at his sushi counter just a few hours
earlier. We staged a strike; we stayed
longer than any other customers. He had completely
ignored us. And yet, a few hours later, with
a twist of fate, he had to smile and shake our hands. How strange sometimes life’s events could
be. We called it our “revenge on Jiro”.
