Japanese People (and Jonathan Gold) Are Smart
Just when I think I’ve tried all of the great L.A. sushi places, whether it’s traditional omakase or those places that have dishes with “crunchy” in the name, another comes on my radar. My feeling in these moments is sometimes trepidation that my then-existing favorite spots may be dethroned, and I will have to rethink my L.A. sushi rubric. This was exactly my feeling when I learned about Kiyokawa, a sushi place on Robertson that was recently visited by L.A.’s own Jonathan Gold. My first thought, Beverly Hills? Blah. But after Mr. Gold’s endorsement, I had to go.
Harold made a reservation at the sushi bar, and when he called, the hostess asked if we would be enjoying the chef’s tasting menu (to be distinguished from straight up sushi omakase or ordering from the regular menu). Duh. Yes. We sat down and were graciously greeted by Chef Kiyokawa, who asked if we had any food allergies, any favorites or dislikes. What? Does this guy actually care? So much for the “no soy sauce” barking chefs at our usual places.
Then the fun began.
The first course was an assorted vegetable appetizer – marinated burdock root, lotus root, some cucumber salad with ikura (salmon eggs) and sauteed spinach with sesame. Second, the sashimi course – salmon, Spanish mackerel, tuna and yellowtail. Fresh grated wasabi – huge difference from the powdered kind. On the platter came the whole mackerel, the sashimi sliced for us on the plate, but the head tail and bones skewered as some sort of decoration. “what do I do with this?” I asked the waitress. “We fry it” she said. Woo hoo! Who knew fish bones could make us so happy. So duh, third course – fried fish bones and head with a dipping sauce. We ate all but head and fins.
Fourth course – our favorite might I add - consisted of 6 little appetizers on the same plate. Foie gras with truffle salt and miso, marinated uni in a little jar, a wonton chip with crab, halibut lightly cooked with hot oil, kumumoto oyster with caviar, and bruleed yellowtail with jalepeno. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Next, soup, clear broth with vegetable– yum. Next black cod (cooked) – also yum. Next, another soup with a scallop and yuba fritter – interesting but starting to get full. Next, sushi course, chu-toro, more Spanish mackerel, albacore, halibut fin and uni. Fresh and delish. Finally, green tea ice cream with roasted black sesame – I ate it all.
The verdict? This place neither dethroned my fav omakase spots or my crunchy carpaccio spots – it was a place all its own. Reminding me more of Japanese kaiseki (see explanation here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaisekithan) than traditional omakase, everything was thoughtful and beautifully presented. Whatever you want to call it, J. Gold was right (of course) and Kiyokawa is the man. We’ll be back. — SP
Kiyokawa Japanese Restaurant, 265 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211
