ExUtzutzu chef has East Bay sushi popup
The sushi chef who made Utzutzu a destination for traditional omakase in Alameda has branched out on his own.
Chef Joji Nonaka and Anna Osawa, who worked as a server at Utzutzu before the pandemic temporarily shuttered the restaurant, started a popup called Sushi Salon in February. It specializes in simple omakase made with wildcaught fish from a particular fish broker in Japan who doesn’t sell to anyone else in the U.S. Fish & Bird Sousaku Izakaya, located at 2451 Shattuck Ave. at Haste Street in downtown Berkeley, hosts it every other week.
They’re looking for a permanent space in Oakland, but Osawa said it’s difficult finding something suitable for an intimate omakase restaurant with as few as 12 seats.
Until they find a spot, the popups will continue. Typically the premium dinner for two ($250) is the first to sell out, since Nonaka makes only 20 per night. It comes with 24 pieces of nigiri, miso soup, wakame salad and a seasonal dessert. Smaller offerings include bara chirashi ($68), cubes
of seasonal fish over rice; tuna crudo with black olivemiso sauce ($25); and a futomaki roll ($36), with layers of seafood, omelet and pickled vegetables. For now, all offerings are available for takeout only.
What makes Sushi Salon stand out, Osawa said, is the direct relationship Nonaka has with renowned fish broker Hasegawa Hiroki, who buys fish for top sushi destinations and other fine dining restaurants in Asia. They met while Nonaka was back in Japan, studying sushi in the same social circle as Hasegawa. But Nonaka
hadn’t asked Hasegawa to link him up with fish back when he was the chef at Utzutzu.
Hasegawa has a special technique for killing fish, spiking them in a nerve “so the fish doesn’t know it’s dead,” Osawa said. The result is an extra freshtasting fish, according to chefs in international media reports; the texture might have a different bounce, the color might sport a different sheen.
Hasegawa chooses the fish based on what looks best that day, so Nonaka never knows what he’ll be preparing. Generally, Hasegawa chooses leaner varieties with notable sweetness and umami.
“The fish have seasons like fruit and vegetables,” Osawa said. “We don’t have crazy fatty tuna or uni.”
Sushi Salon places a similar premium on other ingredients: Nonaka uses Horikawaya Nomura’s mitsuboshi shoyu, a traditional soy sauce made over woodfire and aged for two years; rice vinegar from Iio Jozo, which controls the entire process from cultivating the rice to brewing the sake to finally brewing the vinegar; and real wasabi root grown locally in Half Moon Bay.
During the popup, Nonaka and Osawa will continue evolving their style — but the fixation on these core ingredients will remain, including at their future restaurant.
“We’ll be more simple, traditionalstyle omakase,” Osawa said. “We won’t bring caviar.”
Sushi Salon. TuesdayWednesday every two weeks at Fish & Bird Sousaku Izakaya, 2451 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. sushisalon.com