The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Precision in kitchen and rarefied omakase
When customers sign up for an omakase seating at Brush Sushi Izakaya in Decatur, Jason Liang wants them to have a transaction somewhere between the spiritual and the artistic.
“I will guarantee you that your experience for enjoying my omakase will be very different from other restaurants,” says the 32-year-old chef and owner, “or at least it will be one of the best meals of your life.”
That statement is perhaps more a tribute to the self-confidence and precision of a young sushi master than a brazen flash of egomania.
Just as Liang tries to build suspense and surprise into every piece of nigiri he touches, he’s equally absorbed with every detail of his kitchen, from the complex broths that go into his ramen to the chicken he breaks down into 16 parts and threads onto skewers for yakitori.
Though reviewers and regulars rave about his rarefied omakase service, Liang has no intention of streamlining his menu to focus solely on the exclusive, chef ’s choice format, which ranges from $95 to $135 (plus drinks and tip).
Brush, after all, was conceived as an izakaya, a traditional Japanese pub, where snacks and little bites are meant to be savored with drinks. So he wants his diners to have plenty of inexpensive options as well. (He recently added brunch.)
Liang has been studying Japanese food since he was a young boy. He was born in South Carolina to Taiwanese parents who came to the States so that his dad could earn his Ph.D. in chemistry. When he was 4 or 5, his family returned to Taiwan, where the influences of being a Japanese colony (1895-1945) endured.
“Whatever my grandma was cooking was somehow related to the Japanese cuisine,” he says. “That’s how I kind of fell in love with soy sauce, dashi, all kinds of Japanese cooking.” At 19, he started three years of training at the Regent Taipei; he moved to Atlanta to live full time in 2006.
Last May, Liang and his pastry-chef wife, ChingYao Wang, decided to open their own spot. They named it Brush: a reference to the Japanese art of calligraphy and the craft he brings to every sliver of fish he touches.
Brush Sushi Izakaya, 316 Church St., Decatur. 678-9499412, brushatl.com.