Beer and Fish

I started my career as a sushi chef at Kyoto restaurant here in 1993-94. I learned from a few Japanese sushi chefs, and one who was incredibly talented named Kiyohisa Hara. Kiyo introduced me to the beginnings of everything in Japanese cuisine and sushi. Flavors,techniques,ingredients, and methods all of which were a whole new world to me. I fell in love with the food first, then the people...and it wasn't till later when i got my chance that i embraced everything that had to do with sushi and it's preparation.

Kiyo taught me well for a year or two, but was soon gone and i was left to work on my own for the most part...until i started at Kyoto's new location where i worked under the man who built Kyoto originally named Ted Kasuga. He was amazing and took me under his wing and showed me everything there was about fish,sushi,rice,and the pride that goes with becoming a fully fledged sushi chef. He made sure my knives were sharp every day. He made me read the paper before work to keep up on current event to discuss with customers. He challenged me to be dexterious in my garnishes and compositions. After years of working in Vegas, he was super fast as well. I never got as fast as Ted-san when i worked with him. His work was always superior. His pride in what he was as a sushi master was something to look up to....and from there i was sold! Becoming a sushi chef; that was what i wanted.

The next and most important step in my career was one night when i went to eat at place in Austin called "Musashino". There were 4 Japanese sushi chefs behind the counter. Foreboding. They all looked like seriously incredible chefs, but it was obvious that the head chef at the end of the line was the best by far. His name is Takehiko "Smokey" Fuse, and little did i know but he would become my sensei for the next 6 years.

Watching Smokey that first night was beyond words. His knife skill was something out of a graphic novel. His focus and creativity were unthinkable. Wooden cutting boards? Large pieces of super fresh fish resting in the sushi cases for everyone to see? A system where the head chef cut every single piece of fish to be served all night long? This was amazing! I knew then that my only chance to get where i wanted and learn from the best was to get a job making sushi at Musashino.

I got up the guts a week later and went in to eat again. After the meal i walked around the bar and tried to talk to Smokey to see if i could get a job there or if they were ever hiring. "Do you think i could get a job here learning from you?", i said quivering. " Can you read or write Japanese?", he said. "No", i said. "Then you could never work here. " , he replied. I was CRUSHED. I thought that was it and i might as well give up on this charade of trying to become a full fledged sushi chef in America. What was i thinking? I went home, went to sleep, and woke up the next day deflated.

Then, after a couple weeks while i was still working at Kyoto, i was sleeping at my house on Koenig lane one night after work and someone started banging on my bedroom window at 3am! I had no idea who it was and looked out to see this crazy looking Japanese guy holding a bucket with ice and pointing to my front door. I went around to the door in my underwear and opened it. It was Smokey and one of his sushi guys named Nishimura Ikutoshi. They had a 12 pack of Budweiser in cans on ice in a bucket...and from there i sat on my couch in my underwear drinking bear and Smokey and Iku offered me a job while speaking to each other in Japanese to come work at Musashino the following week. It was one of only a few turing points in my life, and i was in my underwear, on my couch, drinking a bud in the middle of the night , with 2 Japanese strangers. ;0)

I went on to a whole new world of sushi and what it could become and learned every possible thing i could from Smoke-san from there forward until i went out on my own to open Uchi in 2003. He is still to this day the most talented chef i have ever known, and i am indebted to him with what i have learned and become.....if for nothing else other than taking the chance on me and letting me try to see what i could do. It was the shot i needed, and the stepping stone to give me the tools i would later need to become a success.

The photo is a technique i learned from Smokey-san on how to scale a fish with your knife instead of a scaler so you don't damage the flesh and it holds it's resiliency once you fillet it and slice for sashimi or sushi. One of many lessons that go into Uchi food every day.

Becoming chefs

I just finished the book "the Perfectionist". Great read about the rise and fall of one of France's best chefs' and his inner passion to achieve perfection and gain the greatest award in the culinary world of France; 3 stars from the Michelin guide....that once he received was true success, but then once taken away it lead him to take his own life as well.

i took from the book many different examples of how people and cooks eventually over time become chefs...and then how each individual chef creates and becomes his "own" chef by developing their own unique take or style of cuisine...and how after that they put the ball in motion to get that cuisine prepared consistently at the highest of all levels. The one thing they all had in common however was passion. The desire for perfection. An unteachable attribute; an ambition from within.

I found myself the first few years of Uchi working as hard as i could to attain such perfection. The struggle was overwhelming at times, but with patience and hard work anything is possible. These days now that i'm off of the line at nights and playing the role as the chef, more than the craftsman/cook, it affords me the ability to oversee all facets of my kitchen and restaurant....instead of being behind a cutting board most of the day.

The pic above: All the talent that makes it happen at Uchi everyday. Being part of them becoming chef's someday gives me pride beyond compare.

The slab for Uchiko is poured!

Dinner for everyone

Timing is everything. It's the key between a great night at the restaurant and the average one. These are the 2 ticket rails on our expo station at Uchi. The top one is for the kitchen; the bottom for sushi bar. Usually orders come in waves, and rarely is everyone "slammed" at once...but sometimes you never know. The biggest difference in Uchi and any other typical dinner restaurant or sushi bar: We try to make sure a new plate is hitting the customer's table the entire time their dining! This alone makes timing quintessential. Everything has to be seamlessly coordinated from the server and making sure they customize the experience to that specific diner...to give them the best possible experience and meal. The challenge in this is also a lot of times some tables have people with different tastes and desires/ likes and dislikes. One person wants only sashimi, the other would never touch it. It's not just "sauce on the side" or certain cook temps for meats anymore.....We get it all, from gluten free, celiac's, allergies, etc. The best one ever was when i made dinner for Michael Stipe back in 04, and he said he was allergic to fish. "I can't eat any of it", he said. " But salmon,....that one is ok." It takes all kinds.

Simplicity

A dessert we did earlier in the year about grapefruit and fennel. I'm spending time now focusing on what makes Uchi food and what the parameters are to help define that.  My sensibility while creating new dishes and food is inherently Japanese based off of my years of teaching and training. I think simplicity is always key, and knowing how to refine and edit is the only path to truly great dishes and food. My idea with Uchi is to maintain focus on the ingredients and their integrity. When we do enter into realms of newer and more modern techniques and such we do it sparingly and only with direct purpose. If an "espuma" makes the dish shine on the ingredient more, great...but if not it's just excess and unnecessary.  At this point in my path to becoming a chef, i'm still learning....but what i do know is simple is always best. 

Makimono

Makimono. Sushi rolls in America are mostly rolled "inside-out" with the rice on the outside like the typical california or spicy tuna roll. Rolls have become the introduction to sushi for most people, and the first step in a long path of trying new and unusual things on in the whole sushi world of food. 

 Sushi rolls have become pretty complex in the America, with lots of places adding more and more ingredients to make them larger and larger to please their every demanding customers. Huge rolls with names like "catepillar" and "dragon", some of these can sell for up to $20 each. 

 At Uchi, our roll menu is a much simpler selection of 10 rolls with focus on the ingredients and not too much "filler" or masking.  Sushi rolls make up for almost 18% of our sales, and play a vital part in getting the sushi novice into eating and trying sushi for the first time. 

Original sushi rolls in Japan were all made with seaweed sheets called nori, and rolled with the rice on the inside on top of bamboo mats. The point was to keep them dry and cut them into bite size pieces because they were originally conceived and made in bars and casinos for people to eat with their hands alone. 

Our most popular roll at Uchi is a tempura fried traditional roll of salmon and sun dried tomato called the "shag" roll.  I try to eat one roll a day at the restaurant just to make sure the rice is right....and because it reminds me of when i first started and was the sushi novice myself too! 

The pic is of our makimono station where 2 guys crack out hundreds of rolls nightly. I simplified the ingredients in the rolls for expediency, and most rolls are made in less than 30 seconds each. 

Sea bream

Madai. Japanese sea bream or snapper. My favorite fish. Most Japanese consider snapper the best as well....and from this usually eat it only on special occasions because they hold it in such high regard. 

This snapper comes to us a few times a week at Uchi from Tsukiji market in Tokyo. These fish are killed instantaneously at the market in a process called "ike jime". A wire like device is shot to the back of the head to paralyze the fish, and the fish suffers no pain and without struggle none of the flesh of the fish is damaged in the process. This is the freshest and as close as you can get to "right out of the ocean" fish you can get anywhere in America. I love to eat Madai grilled,steamed and seared....but mostly like it straight up raw sashimi with a touch of sea salt and lemon.  Come in to Uchi and i'll be glad to give you a taste! 

Sushi restaurant with great desserts?

When we opened Uchi back in 03, desserts were the least of my concern. We sold store bought frozen mochi ice cream for the most part; and an occasional tempura twinkie. (hated the idea of those, so trashy bad fusion food..idea of my chef at the time.)  

Over time as we evolved and grew, i decided that bringing in someone with some talent to help us with our pantry and desserts might be a good idea. 

Now i think we're at the forefront of any restaurant in the country with our desserts, and it's just another layer in what we try to do with the food at Uchi in keeping it always as unique and innovative as possible. 

This is a pic of our current dessert special that will ended today. We run the specs weekly, which gives us time to tweek and perfect the next one before it hits the menu the following week. Philip was a great pastry chef when he came to Uchi, now i think he's tops b/c we make a point to all help each other and trying to bounce ideas back and forth while we're testing the new desserts....and usually all the effort pays off and Philip's execution is flawless.  You'll see the desserts as a major part of the upcoming Uchi cookbook next year for sure. 

super fresh golden trout

First post in a week. Last week kinda crazy with the onslaught of the ACL crowds and lots of new faces all over the city. Busy weeks mean lots of new product, and this is one example: golden rainbow trout from Brown distributing. These guys came in so fresh they were still rock hard and smelled of clean water. Similar fish from Brown go everyday to other great restaurants in the city such as Le Bernadin and Daniel. This fish is so fresh we have to hold it for a day before we can even serve it! 

Garlic candy?

Garlic cloves sliced on mandolin. Blanched. Here they're sitting in simple syrup awaiting the last step where they'll be lightly fried.  

Fried fresh candied garlic chips.

 You'll find these on our menu sometimes on nigiri and various tastings, they add an instant flash of crunch,texture,sweetness and savory garlic all in one bite! Garnish of all garnishes. 

fins and shrooms

Sashimi of aji. yuzu&tofu emulsion. myoga. matsutake. sencha oil. fleur de sel. 

One of a dozen or so new tasting on the menu today.....

Uchi book?

Paul's rendition of Uchi's tuna and goat cheese sashimi with pumpkin seed oil and fuji apple. We're on the cusp of starting to revamp a list of Uchi daily specials from the last 3 or 4 years...in an attempt to determine which ones we think we can improve upon and add to the list of composed dishes we want to include in the upcoming Uchi cookbook. The list is extraordinary and enough ideas and information to cover multiple books....we'll just have to do what is always most important; edit and simplify. We're on the look out for a good publisher.  I'll keep progress updated here on this blog as well. 

Good times...

In the bath...

Tile. 4x4 tiles. All sorts of colors and finishes; these mostly matte. After much discussion we've come to the decision that one of these types of tiles will be the focus in the bathrooms at Uchiko. Simple pattern, nothing "showy"...i want Uchiko to come across comfortable, but yet well constructed and created. A mix of quality woods and crafted materials, with other store bought items and finishes...Uchiko will be one of a kind. 

Choosing which color...that's yet to come!