Sushi, believe it or not, is actually one of the main reasons I dropped everything, quit my job, left my friends and family, and moved away from the only home I've ever known to a mysterious country where I had few friends and no understanding of the language, the culture, or the food. Well I mean, I did in some sense have it better than most Americans because I was lucky enough to grow up in San Francisco where there is (or was) a Japantown, Japanese people, and numerous sushi restaurants ranging from mediocre to downright poisonous. For reasons beyond comprehension though, my interest in Sushi drove me to do something I could never fathom. Growing up in an Asian family usually means living with your family until you end up getting married. Rarely, will you see Asian children move away from home for selfish reasons (unless of course those reasons happen to have future financial benefits, i.e. College / great job at famous company etc.) For me though, the reasons were as selfish as they came and for the first time in my life I was passionate about something. I needed to know more, see more, and taste more. I desperately sought understanding beyond superficial terms, dragon rolls, and the salmon/hamachi/ebi/maguro rut that San Francisco's sushi scene was limited to at the time. I felt like I had an ocean's worth of knowledge separating me and I was driven like never before to cross it.

Is it the best though? To be honest, I never got around to eating there before I moved away, It's still on my hit-list but a lower priority because there are so many other Sushi restaurants doing more interesting things. It's sort of analogous to deciding if it's worth trying the French Laundry for the first time after already having one the best meals of your life at Saison. Both are renowned fine dining establishments in the Bay Area - the French Laundry, traditional and classical, while Saison, exciting, modern, and inspiring.
Japan has the luxury of having so many amazing dining choices available. Some say that even if you dined at a new restaurant every day for the rest of your life, you still wouldn’t be able to scratch the surface of what Tokyo offers. Jiro might be the most famous, but there are hundreds, if not thousands of hardworking sushi shokunin (artisan or craftsman) dedicating their lives to mastering the art of combining fish and vinegared rice. Movies and the media work in mysterious ways; at times, a double edged sword — in the case of Sukiyabashi Jiro, his restaurant becoming infamous to the point of eclipsing every other sushi restaurant on the planet. My hope is to bring a little more balance to that viewpoint. Jiro may dream of sushi, but I guarantee if you look a bit past his enormous shadow, you’ll discover that Japan is a country full of sushi artisans, many of whom share that same dream and dedication.