sashimi & sushi [General]
2009 Apr 5
hi Maize, i think its a cool sign of the times that an 18 yr old foodie is asking this.
I'm not Japanese and not a sushi-geek myself, but have close friends who are both, and their generic response to this sort of question is there's no great sushi resties in Ottawa, and no "traditional" ones in the sense they think of the term.
What traditional means to them is a chef trained in a classical way that involves working his way up from washing the dishes (sound familiar?) & on through a rigourous apprenticeship.
It also refers to a restaurant serving nothing but sushi / sashimi: perhaps a couple side dishes, but no noodles, no other cooked entres.
And, it also means doing sushi right, not necessarily anything fancy / crazy, but observing the time-honored ways to season, cook and cool the rice, selecting the freshest fish, etc. They might even make their own soyu and (in Japan) the best / traditional places would use fresh wasabi. And while plenty of fish is flown in from afar (the big tunas), sushi chefs would maintain close relationships w/ local fish mongers and even w/ fishing boats: seasonality and local are both important.
So, if you're a strict traditionalist, you might be out of luck in Ottawa. There may be one or two chefs trained as above, but for many in Ottawa / elsewhere, becoming a sushi chef seems based as much on the economics of sushi's popularity (its sort of the pizza of this era), and there's plenty of "chefs" who'd be newbie apprentices in Japan.
If your sense of tradition is a bit broader to mean something like staffed / managed / owned by 1st gen. Japanese (those at least familiar w/ the old-school traditions), you might want to add Suisha Gardens, Ichibei and Totoya to your list. I'd also include Genji (on your list already), Kochu and perhaps Wasabi. These garner enough respect from people on this site (and my friends) to be included in Ottawa's top-5/10 category.
"Insider's advice" is to go on a day when the fish is freshest and the best chefs are at work. My friend suggest going to Suisha Gardens on Fridays as the fish arrives Thurs. You should cut class (blame Ottawa Foodies!) and hit them up for lunch, when its a bit cheaper and less busy. You might sit at the counter and perhaps even get to ask the chef(s) questions.
Finally, since you asked about traditions, you might want to watch this:
bear in mind the whole thing is a tongue-in-cheek parody!
I'm not Japanese and not a sushi-geek myself, but have close friends who are both, and their generic response to this sort of question is there's no great sushi resties in Ottawa, and no "traditional" ones in the sense they think of the term.
What traditional means to them is a chef trained in a classical way that involves working his way up from washing the dishes (sound familiar?) & on through a rigourous apprenticeship.
It also refers to a restaurant serving nothing but sushi / sashimi: perhaps a couple side dishes, but no noodles, no other cooked entres.
And, it also means doing sushi right, not necessarily anything fancy / crazy, but observing the time-honored ways to season, cook and cool the rice, selecting the freshest fish, etc. They might even make their own soyu and (in Japan) the best / traditional places would use fresh wasabi. And while plenty of fish is flown in from afar (the big tunas), sushi chefs would maintain close relationships w/ local fish mongers and even w/ fishing boats: seasonality and local are both important.
So, if you're a strict traditionalist, you might be out of luck in Ottawa. There may be one or two chefs trained as above, but for many in Ottawa / elsewhere, becoming a sushi chef seems based as much on the economics of sushi's popularity (its sort of the pizza of this era), and there's plenty of "chefs" who'd be newbie apprentices in Japan.
If your sense of tradition is a bit broader to mean something like staffed / managed / owned by 1st gen. Japanese (those at least familiar w/ the old-school traditions), you might want to add Suisha Gardens, Ichibei and Totoya to your list. I'd also include Genji (on your list already), Kochu and perhaps Wasabi. These garner enough respect from people on this site (and my friends) to be included in Ottawa's top-5/10 category.
"Insider's advice" is to go on a day when the fish is freshest and the best chefs are at work. My friend suggest going to Suisha Gardens on Fridays as the fish arrives Thurs. You should cut class (blame Ottawa Foodies!) and hit them up for lunch, when its a bit cheaper and less busy. You might sit at the counter and perhaps even get to ask the chef(s) questions.
Finally, since you asked about traditions, you might want to watch this:
bear in mind the whole thing is a tongue-in-cheek parody!
2009 Apr 5
btw, Maize, depending on how interested you are in sushi, there was a lengthy and informative thread in chowhound a couple months ago, started by "bigtuna27", himself a trained-in-Japan sushi chef and now living in LA. He (and others) answer a ton of questions from newbies and experts alike:
chowhound.chow.com
chowhound.chow.com
Maize