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!