Sushi by Culinary Students at Bistro 31 of Santa Monica

Yellowtail Carpaccio

Spicy Salmon Bowl with Sushi Rice

Salmon Onigiri 

Kimchi & Tuna Roll 

Spicy Salmon Tartare with Salmon Roe

Bistro 31 Knows Sushi...And Onigiri Too

For student-prepared fare, the sushi at Bistro 31 is actually quite stellar, and offers a contemporary twist to the artistry and nuances of this Japanese delicacy.

Operated by members of The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of California, Los Angeles, Bistro 31 is a Zagat-rated restaurant that is open to the public, offering a cuisine that fuses Asian, French and California flavors—at an affordable price.

As such, you might occasionally find the Yellowtail Carpaccio located next to Cold Somen Noodles with Shrimp on the menu; or happen upon Spicy Salmon Bowl with Sushi Rice on the same page as an entrée called the Traditional Korean Bibimbap.

The newly introduced Salmon Onigiri, listed as a Thursday special, may be ordered with Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass….Show up the following week, and the items have been replaced by Kimchi & Tuna Roll, and Pulled Pork Banh Mi, as the menu may vary from day to day.

The Salmon Onigiri, at its induction, cost a mere $1—a whopper of a deal for three balls of sushi rice, grilled salmon and seasonings, topped with shaved bonito and paired with spicy pickled radishes. Two weeks later, the tester-item price had been marked up to $3, still a steal for a trio of scrumptious rice balls so chock-full of salmon; this time, they were slightly larger, and cheekily garnished with cilantro.

With its cooked tuna and spicy pickled cabbage, the Kimchi & Tuna Roll seems to simultaneously suggest Korean and Japanese food—albeit highly Americanized, with the white fish baked and the Kimchi attenuated in pungence. All the same, it makes a unique sushi roll traditionally encased in sushi rice and seaweed, served with wasabi and ginger.

The sushi rice here is well-seasoned, most notably in the Spicy Salmon Bowl, where it was paired perfectly with avocado and shredded seaweed (the unexpected pickled cucumbers and leafy greens in the bowl were a nice surprise). For only $4, the serving was fairly hefty and satisfying.

Were it not for its manageable prices and location—in a building filled with classrooms—you may not know this was an establishment run by culinary arts majors; during lunchtime, the place can be seen catering to companies that share the same business park. Here, future restaurateurs and employees learn everything from the art of plating to customer service. It is professional and smooth—down to the fresh bread brought to your table and the suggestions of dessert: will it be a Caramel Walnut Brownie or some Deconstructed Cherry Pie? How about the French Macaroons with Bavarian Cream, for $2?

Lunch prices generally range from $3 to $7 per item, though you might start with the $1 Miso Soup. For dinner, expect fancier dishes such as Pan-Seared Day Boat Scallops for $15; or, for those who fancy a bird, Bistro 31 has been known to serve a Modernist Chicken Cordon Bleu for $11.

Business hours may vary by quarter, but the restaurant is generally open three days a week, from about 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, and for dinner from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

Bistro 31

2900 31st Street, Santa Monica

310-314-6057

Sushi Ran: For Bay Area Aficionados

Zuke Chu Toro (Red Wine Cured
Medium Fatty Blue Fin Tuna)

Kasugodai (Baby Red Snapper)

Kamasu (Seared Barracuda) with Myoga ginger 

Soft Shell Crawfish Roll

Sushi Ran of Sausalito

Sushi enthusiasts of the Bay area need look no further than Sushi Ran, a posh gem in Sausalito that serves top-tier traditional Japanese sushi and Pacific cuisine. To feast here is to indulge all your senses—the pampering ambience relaxes you while the visual banquet entices. There’s lively chatter at the sushi bar, as well as on the wine bar and patio side of this joint.

Restaurateur Yoshi Tome, who has owned Sushi Ran since 1986, flies in freights of seldom-seen victuals from various parts of the globe, and is careful to serve only sustainable tuna. While a number of items hail from the world famous Tsukiji Market in Japan, this sushi bar also features selections from Canada, Hawaii, and even Tasmania, from which their Umi Masu (Ocean Trout) arrives.

Most of the chefs—and restaurant patrons—may likely suggest the Omakase Tasting, which for $39 per person includes seven varieties of nigiri culled by the chef, paired with umami soy. If you wish to choose your own sushi after the chef’s selections, you can order from the replete menu—or, ask the chef to continue to surprise you.

Newcomers take heed: the sushi here is priced per piece. The McFarland Trout may start at $5, but a single bite of the Miyazaki Wagyu beef chomps you out of $12.75. Both regular and fresh wasabi are offered: the fresh wasabi is automatically served with an omakase order, but if you want some extra, it’s $2.50 more.

My chef’s caprices on this busy weeknight led me to tastings of zuke chu toro, a “red wine cured medium fatty blue fin tuna,” brushed with sweet sake and soy sauce and then torched and splashed with lemon. The result? Heaven in a bite, a burst of flavors that reeled me in as it sent me over the edge. And that was followed by kasugodai, baby red snapper that according to the menu was “cured with bamboo leaf.”

The consistently soft melody played only slightly off-note with the introduction of the chewy, sinewy hobou, a sea robin served with kinome, or, according to the chef, “a type of prickly ash, a woody aromatic herb.” Albeit a little hard to masticate, the flavors abound in this one.

Then there was the tobiuo, or flying fish with umami tobiko, which drew me back into familiar waters, and then the tasty inada, or wild young yellowtail. The exotic kamasu (seared barracuda) kicked it up a notch, especially because it was coupled with a certain ginger called Myoga. And to wrap up the seven-part wonder, there was the ocean trout, from down under.

Oh, but I couldn’t help but request the Soft Shell Crawfish Roll, a soy-paper-wrapped delight I have never seen elsewhere. Served with a wedge of lime, along with umami tobiko, spicy crab, asparagus and shiso, this unique roll ensconces the red critters with their miniature claws pointed heavenward, as if a supplicating gesture…at least until you stuff an entire piece of the roll, softish claws notwithstanding, into your mouth.

Also from chef Taka Toshi’s menu, there is the top-selling Crunch Roll, which combines eel, avocado, tempura flakes, spicy crab, aonori powder and shrimp for $18.

On the other side of the menu, from the kitchen of executive chef Scott Whitman, there's the popular Vietnamese Shaking Beef, which melds sweet onions with tiger lily buds and a lime-pepper dipping sauce. And let’s not forget the oft-ordered Smoked Hamachi Tataki, which offers the refreshing ingredient of Ruby grapefruit, which is then contrasted with a yuzu black pepper sauce.

To guarantee seats at this sushi hotspot, it is advisable that you book about a week in advance.

Sushi Ran

107 Caledonia Street, Sausalito 
415-332-3620

It's Time for Some Shooters

Quail Egg Shooter at Kabuki

Viagra Shooter at Miyako Sushi

Oyster Shooter at EMC Seafood & Raw Bar

Oyster Shooter: Complete with Quail Egg,
Sea Urchin, Salmon Eggs, Chives, Shochu

Rainy Day? Shoot it!

What does one do on a rainy Sunday? There’s the usual for the hoi polloi: television, grocery shopping, chores. I decided to vanquish the commonplace and go on a tour of shooters.

Ask for a shooter in most sushi bars and they might not know what you mean. Ask for a shooter in certain—not necessarily high-end—restaurants, and the chef may ask you, “What kind, the Quail Egg Shooter or the Oyster Shooter?”

Although I am not an avid fan of the generic chain restaurant known as Kabuki, there are a few things the place does right, and one of them is offering relatively inexpensive dishes. Kabuki’s version of the Oyster Shooter, like most of their items, is passable and to the point: oyster served in a shot of spicy ponzu sauce, $4.50. Or, just “Shooter” for $1.75—quail egg in a shot of spicy ponzu sauce. Kabuki throws in masago, green onions, and red chili sauce, which is what makes their shooters spicy. And for some added flair: a light sprinkle of the airy, silky strands known as shaved bonito. The fact that the shooters here are alcohol-free may contribute to the low-cost factor (although, I am sure, you can ask the chef to customize it by adding alcohol or various other items).

Of course, there are some sushi restaurants that mix both the oyster and the quail egg in one shot, perhaps adding cold sake and sea urchin to it, then renaming it something quirky like Viagra Shooter, as does Miyako Sushi in Glendora.

Incidentally, Miyako Sushi is the only sushi bar I have seen that has such a specific shooter menu. If you want quail egg (uzura in Japanese) in it, it’s $2.95. For a shooter with oyster (kaki) inside, it’s $3.95. Upgrade to uni, also known as sea urchin, and it’s a $5.95 shot. The Viagra Shooter, which combines all three, costs $7.95. (Perhaps this one was appropriately named because oysters have long been thought to be an aphrodisiac food?)

I decided on the Viagra Shooter, and watched as the chef filled a stylish martini glass with sake, which was soon diluted by ponzu and a driblet of Sriracha sauce. He then tossed in the most popularly used garnishes for quail egg and oyster shooters: masago and green onions. After dropping in the seafood, he added a final touch: a slice of lemon, perched on the rim.

Shooters are fun. In my opinion they are sold as a novelty—in social gatherings, they often start as a dare among friends and end with peals of laughter. Does one shoot it and swallow the contents all at once, just like a shot? Or does one sip—because whoa, it might either be too spicy or strong in liquor flavor—while scooping the edible parts into one's mouth, so as to be able to chew the contents and actually enjoy the seafood essence?

I chose to sip, and then with my chopsticks, I plunged into the murky depths of the brown liquid to dredge up an oyster here, a piece of sea urchin there, feeling like a kid playing with her food while she eats. Finally there was nothing left but little green and orange floaty bits that swirled in the micro sea of spicy sake and sauce.

Although not a sushi restaurant, EMC Seafood & Raw Bar of Los Angeles introduces a bit of Asian fusion to some of their courses, and presents a pretty version of the Oyster Shooter. For $8, this one is plated rather nicely, and it’s up to you to add the ingredients, making it even more fun. Ponzu and Tabasco sauce arrive in a shot glass with shochu, a distilled Japanese beverage; and upon a bed of ice: a cracked-open speckled quail egg (so you get to see what it looks like before you plop in the mini yolk), an oyster on its half-shell laden with uni, salmon eggs, chives; a wedge of lemon. This is one shooter that is both tasty and fun to look at: seemingly lighter on the brown ponzu sauce, the see-through shot glass offers a clear glimpse at the heap of gooey ingredients like no shooter I’ve ever experienced. This is also the only place in which I've ever had an oyster and uni shooter followed by a plate of uni pasta, as if a chaser to my shot. 

In my research, I've seen variations in the components for the proverbial "Oyster Shooter," from Japanese ingredients like yamaimo and furikake, to more American flavorings such as horseradish, Worcestershire and cocktail sauce. Some recipes even call for vodka in place of sake or shochu—that is, if you desire to include any alcohol at all. The only limit, it seems, is one's imagination.

Kabuki
3539 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena
626-351-8963

Miyako Sushi

1836 E. Route 66, Glendora

626-914-2890

EMC Seafood & Raw Bar

3500 W. 6^th Street, Los Angeles

213-351-9988

Go's Mart is Sushi Divinity

Kimme Tai, Triggerfish, Kelp Halibut, John Dory

Regular Toro, Kawagishi Toro, Bluefin    

Shirako (Fish Sperm) 

Seared Shrimp, Japanese Shrimp (Gunkan-Style)
with Truffle, Santa Barbara Uni, Live Scallop

Seared Octopus, Baby Abalone, Giant Clam

Lobster Sushi with Truffle