Omakase

 

12/11/24 Omakase lunch at Moriyama Sushi

The term omakase means, literally, “I’ll leave it to you.” In Japanese cuisine, it means entrusting the chef to prepare a special meal without any choice or substitution – or sometimes even knowledge of what you will receive. The menu is usually based on what’s fresh or featured that day. It’s a pricey and potentially chancy indulgence. I’d only ever had omakase once, and that was in Japan when a relative paid for and made all the meal decisions. That was during my first trip there in 2001, and I think I hadn’t developed my taste for sushi enough to appreciate the meal as much as I would now.

From left: Hokkaido sea urchin, king salmon belly, black sea bream

I’ve always wanted to try it again, but this time I also wanted to sketch the meal. After sketching at Moriyama Sushi last summer and then dining there again with a friend a couple of months ago, I knew that it would be the right place to sketch omakase: It has just the right relaxed, quiet ambiance.

Seated at Moriyama’s sushi bar (which is the best place to be for omakase so you can watch the chef at work and ask questions), I could see chef Richard moving quickly to prepare my nigiri (a slice of fish with a small bite of rice under it), occasionally grabbing a butane torch to sear some fish. He served them to me three at a time, which was an ideal pace for sketching and then eating. (I meant to photograph all nine pieces as they were presented, but I got so excited about the second three that I forgot and scarfed them down immediately after sketching.)

From left: bluefin tuna, Atlantic salmon belly, amber jack

Each nigiri was garnished with a tiny dab of something in a contrasting color that he described, but my food revery kept me from paying much attention to details. I did pay attention to the name of each type of fish as he presented it so that I could label my sketch accurately (and for future reference).

As you might guess, I was plenty full after devouring nine lovely nigiri, but I had just enough space – both in my stomach and on my sketchbook page – for a colorful dessert: One scoop each of ube and matcha flavored mochi ice cream. The long toothpicks are the utensils!

It took me a while to articulate why this style of eating is such a different experience from most: In general, we are all used to being served one main entrée. We take the first delicious bite, and we know we will continue to enjoy it until it’s gone. With a series of sushi being prepared one at a time, each is unique. The one in my mouth is so good that I wish I had another to follow, yet I know it’s the only one I’ll get (at least in that meal). The next one may be as good or possibly even better, but in any case, the one in my mouth will soon be just a happy memory. It’s similar to the way the Japanese anticipate and cherish the brief blossoming of cherry trees each spring: Their beauty is precious because it’s fleeting. That’s what it’s like to eat omakase sushi – fleeting deliciousness.

Mochi ice cream for dessert!

That fantastic meal and sketching it was my reward. Read on to learn why I deserved it:

Even before I had planned my general downsizing project, I knew I had to dispose of Greg’s aged tower PC. Before I could do that, however, I had to go through the hard drive to copy anything I wanted to retain – specifically, all the photos he had taken during the past 20 or so years, especially from our travels. I also needed to go through data files in case any of those had to be retained.

On the face of it, this task seems like it should have been easier than physically sorting numerous file cabinets and bankers boxes full of paper: All I had to do was click on folders and drag them around. Data has no weight or dust. Nonetheless, it felt hugely daunting, and I procrastinated mightily – for 10 months. When I finished cleaning out literally everything else in the office, the only thing left was the elephant in the room.

After all that procrastination, it took me only two days to finish, and most of that time was totally passive: Drag folders and then walk away to do something else while the files took hours to copy (a total of 4 terabytes!). Afterwards I laughed at myself ruefully when I figured I had spent a hundred times more energy and time fussing and procrastinating than I did on completing the task itself! The best part is that now that the room contains nothing but office furniture, I can start moving my studio in.

Between omakase courses, I worked on the sketch journal page below. Initially I had considered putting my journaling on the same page with the omakase, but I knew it would turn into a crowded mess, and those beautiful nigiri deserved their own space on the page.

12/11/24 Moriyama Sushi