Hirozen Gourmet – a local sushi joint that is anything but ordinary

Chad G — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:11:56 +0000

Hirozen Gourmet is a perfect example of why you can only find the best sushi in the U.S. in Los Angeles. Located in a mini-mall on an average corner of Beverly Blvd. (here, actually), Hiroji Obayashi’s 20 year old restaurant puts out consistently excellent food with a creative and colorful flair. I have enjoyed the delights of Hirozen many times and have never had anything but a great meal.

Obayashisan’s philosophy is “food is for the human relation,” meaning that a meal is the connective tissue of society around which one creates a gathering of people to share their lives with one another. His food expresses his philosophy in the way it surprises without demanding center stage, delights without showing off and sublimely satiates without overpowering. In a city of many options for outstanding sushi, Hirozen Gourmet enters its third decade still standing out from the crowd.

Cucumber sunomono - sliced cucumbers, seaweed and shoots in rice vinegar with lemon; a light, refreshing start to any sushi meal

L-R: Tai - japanese snapper with sea salt and mint; Loup de Mer w/ yuzu-kosho and sea salt; Dorade - French Snapper w/ sea salt

L-R: Blue Fine Tuna with soy sauce and wasabi; Hirame with ponzu and green onion

L-R: Tasmanian Sea Trout with ponzu and scallion; Aji - spanish mackerel with fresh ginger and scallion; White Salmon with scallion; the best trio of the meal, 3 smokey, creamy delicious pieces of fish

Albacore Clear Roll - albacore, avocado, mango, cucumber in clear rice paper

Another highlight, the Wagyu - grilled sake-kasu japanese beef - was perfectly cooked tender, and delicately seasoned sweet and salty

L-R: Kampachi - amberjack (or baby yellowtail) with yuzu-kosho; Mirugai- jumbo clam with mint; Yari-Ika - fresh squid with ginger; a return to light and citrus flavours

L-R: Spicy grilled yellow tail with scallion; Uni - Santa Barbara Sea Urchin; Unagi - fresh water eel with eel sauce; finishing the meal with a tour of flavors, from rich to briney sea to a savory, sweet, grilled dessert

Posted in Restaurants Tagged: Aji, Albacore, Amerjack, Avocado, Baby Yellowtail, Blue Fin Tuna, Cucumber, Dorade, Eel Sauce, Food, Fresh Water Eel, Ginger, Hirame, Hirozen, Jumbo Clam, Kampachi, Lemon, Los Angeles, Loup de Mer, Mango, Mint, Mirugai, Obayashi, Ponzu, Rice Paper, Rice Vinegar, Sake-Kasu, Santa Barbara, Scallion, Sea Salt, Sea Urchin, Seaweed, Snapper, Soy Sauce, Spanish Mackerel, Squid, Sunomono, Sushi, Tai, Tazmanian Sea Trout, Unagi, Uni, Wagyu, Wasabi, White Salmon, Yari-Ika, Yellow, Yellowtail, Yuzu-Kosho

Leaning into the good stuff at The Slanted Door

Chad G — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:20:25 +0000

Destination weddings with a large group of close friends are always fun, especially when that destination is San Francisco. So, in honor of the nuptials of our dear, superfoodie friends Blair and Keith, we decamped to San Fran, unquestionably the foodie capital of the U.S. and a great place for a weekend trip with friends.

Sasha and I, along with our friends Adam and Marina (who took all the great photos you will see below) and Drew and Dana decided to chow down at one of San Fran’s best known and strikingly beautiful restaurants, The Slanted Door. Located at The Ferry Building on the Embarcadero, with one of the best views of San Francisco Bay, The Slanted Door is a modern Vietnamese restaurant that showcases the abundance of produce as well as ecologically farmed meat, game and poultry found at farms around the San Francisco Bay Area. For the menu, click here.

In addition to The Slanted Door, The Ferry Building also houses one of the great indoor food marketplaces in the U.S., and a great Farmer’s Market can be found outside on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Every meal should begin with a cocktail this perfect - Ginger Limeade with Hangar One Kaffir Lime vodka, ginger, and lime; served on the rocks (photo: Marina Cohn)

Spicy yellowfin tuna tartare with english cucumber, scallion and toasted sesame, served on a rice and seaweed crisp - crunchy, spicy bites of wonderful (photo: Marina Cohn)

Japanese yellowtail with crispy shallots and thai basil - a light, fresh way to both cleanse the palate and begin a meal (photo by Marina Cohn)

Slanted door spring rolls with shrimp, pork, mint and peanut sauce - so fresh and delicious, we forgot to take the picture until they were almost all gone (photo: Marina Cohn)

Crispy vegetarian imperial rolls with taro root, cabbage, glass noodles and peanuts - food with instructions...(1) put noodles, roll and mint in lettuce (2) dip in the sauce (3) put in mouth (photo: Marina Cohn)

Hue rice dumplings with mung bean, scallion oil and spicy soy sauce - a creamy, chewy texture with excellent, subtle flavor profile kicked up just so by the spicy soy sauce (photo: Marina Cohn)

Niman Ranch shaking beef cubed filet mignon, sausalito springs' watercress, red onions and lime dipping sauce - this signature does NOT disappoint; the tender, sweet beef and crisp red oinions flavor mixes perfectly with the lime dipping suace (photo: Marina Cohn)

Drool inducing sauteed pork and grapes with hoisin sauce; salty, savory sliced pork paired with bursting fruit is a winner every time (photo: Marina Cohn)

Dirty girl farm haricot verts with beech mushrooms and roasted chili - crisp, crunchy beans with meaty mushrooms and a nice kick (photo: Marina Cohn)

Happy, satisfied diners (photo: Marina Cohn)

Posted in Restaurants, Travel Tagged: Beech Mushrooms, Cabbage, Dirty Girl Farms, Dumplings, English Cucumber, Fliet Mignon, Food, Ginger, Glass Noodles, Grapes, Hanger One, Haricot Verts, Hoisin Sauce, Hue Rice Dumplings, Imperial Roll, Lime, Limeade, Mint, Mung Bean, Niman Ranch, Peanut Suace, Pork, Red O, Red Onion, Rice Crisp, Roasted Chili, San Francisco, Scallion, Scallion Oil, Seaweed, Shaking Beef, Shallots, Shrimp, Soy Sauce, Spicy Soy Sauce, Spring Roll, Taro Root, Thai Basil, The Slanted Door, Toasted Sesame, Tuna Tartare, Vodka, Watercress, Yellowfin Tuna, Yellowtail

The Provender » Mint

Hirozen Gourmet – a local sushi joint that is anything but ordinary

Leaning into the good stuff at The Slanted Door