Be Careful What You Wish For - Lunch at Sukiyabashi Jiro (すきゃぱし次郎)

 

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”.

My Best Hot Dog Ever

I have never thought that I would rave about a hot dog, but I just had the best hot dog in my life the other week at the Alembic Bar.

Alembic Bar does not look like the kind of place one goes for food.  Its exterior looks like a neighborhood dive bar.  Past its front door is a long bar with stools.  Beyond the bar are seven small tables that accommodate at most fourteen diners.  Further back is storage and the facilities, with the kitchen in the very back.  The bar, the floor and the furniture are of worn wood.  Decoration is sparse, but it has plenty of filtered sunlight and the place is clean.  Alembic has an impressive cocktail and whiskey list.  The small menu contains much more than the usual bar food.  There are snacks like shishito peppers and spiced duck hearts, and larger plates such as bone marrow and suckling pig.  There is also a daily $35 3-course prix fixe dinner special.  It is pretty easy to get in at day time, but the wait for the coveted tables and bar stools is notorious in the evening.  

On a recent day, we kicked off our lunch there with two cocktails.  I had a “Just Like Honey” made with Scotch whiskey, sloe gin, a little honey and bitter lemon soda.  Mrs. Akujiki ordered a “Southern Exposure” of Junipero gin, fresh mint, lime juice and a shot of fresh celery juice.  The very healthy celery juice gave Mrs. Akujiki’s drink a lovely colour as well as a refreshing flavor.  Nice!

 

              

 

We munched on fried Japanese shishito peppers seasoned with smoked coarse salt.  The peppers had an aroma of heat, but they were very mild in reality.  They made a great snack to go with our drinks.

   

Mrs. Akujiki enjoyed her beer battered rock fish sandwich, an upscale version of McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish.  It came with malt vinegar remoulade, savoy cabbage, and potato chips with crab seasoning.  

Hot dog usually meant ground up mystery meat with lots of fat and salt.  But I took a chance on the hot dog from “4505”, a local company selling pastured pork, lamb, chicken and grass fed beef.  Besides, it said “bacon studded” hot dog on the menu!!  I was glad that I ordered it.  The sausage was plump and juicy.  Not only that it tasted good, it was also hormone and antibiotic free.  The hot dog was topped with some pickled fennel “kraut” and peppadew relish.  It was simple, delicious and much better than those famous dogs of Pink’s in Los Angeles and Japa Dog in Vancouver, B.C., which were over cluttered with lots of toppings.  Also on the plate were curly pieces of gently seasoned crunchy chicharrones (deep fried pork rind) that were practically free of grease.  It was simply my best hot dog ever.  I could eat it every week. 

 

                                                                                                                                                      

Steamed Clams and Mussels

Cooking steamed clams and mussels at home is easy.  I made some last week.  We ate the mussels as starter, and the clams with cirioline all’uovo (an egg pasta) as the main course.  The wine was a Navarro Sauvignon Blanc from California.

The most important thing is to get fresh live mollusks.  I avoid shops that keep their clams and mussels in tanks of water because I cannot be certain about the quality of the recirculating water.  I prefer shops that keep their products on ice in refrigerated display cases.

Once home, I put the mollusks in a bowl, fill it with cold water and leave it in the fridge for them to spit out the sand from inside their shells.  A Japanese old lady once told me that putting a rusty nail in the water would make the clams clear out all their grits.  I never had a rusty nail handy when I cook clams so I cannot vouch for the claim.  Before I cook them, I scrub the outside surface of each mollusk to get rid of grits and rinse them a few times.  I throw away cracked ones.

Mussels have beards.  I just trim off the exposed portion.  If you want to pull them off completely, do it right before cooking because de-bearding kills the mussels.

I heat up some olive oil and butter (or shrimp butter if I have some on hand) in a large heavy pot and fry some sliced shallots, crushed garlic and one or two small red chili peppers.  Sometimes I also add sliced salt pork, or pancetta, or chunks of spicy hot sausages.  Once everything is nicely browned, I pour in some dry white wine and reduced shrimp stock (optional) and bring it to a boil.  I leave the heat at high, dump the mollusks in, and put the lid on for a few minutes.  I then uncover the pot and continue cooking.  I remove them as soon as their shells open to avoid overcooking.  I discard any that does not open (I do not force open them, especially not in the pot or the soup bowl, because in the best case they are bad and in the worst case their inside is filled with mucky grit and slime).