Jay Eats Worldwide

Photo by Sushi of Gari  Now Open in Hollywood! I was first introduced to Sushi of Gari years ago in NYC. A friend invited me for omakase at a Japanese restaurant. Omakase is "chef's choice" in Japanese, meaning, the chef will serve the very best of the day. Owner Chef Masatoshi "Gari" Sugio became a sushi chef in Japan at the age of 19.  He was drawn to the artistic and culinary world of sushi.  Years later, he opened his own restaurant in NYC.  I was invited to a media preview of their new Hollywood location.   It's not a very large space, maybe 11-12 seats at the sushi bar, and 6 tables (accommodating 2-4 people). There's also a private room.  Besides great fish, the beverages are top notch too. How about an $800 bottle of  Dassai Junmai  Daiginjo "Beyond"? Photo by True Sake In case you were wondering,  here's what an $800 bottle  of sake looks like. It's waaaa...

Whales have been in the news lately, a Killer Whale trainer dies at Sea World in Orlando and a trendy sushi restaurant in LA is caught serving whale meat. The Hump in Santa Monica is being investigated for illegally serving Sei whale, which is endangered. A few people have asked me what I thought about serving whale meat? Besides being illegal in many places in the world, the taste in my opinion is HORRIBLE ; I did try piece of whale meat while visiting Japan in 2001. The taste was very gamey, after all it’s a huge wild animal. I didn’t like it at all and even said I would donate money to save the whales when I got home, I did by the way make a donation. I remember it was on the expensive side too, 6 slices for about $15 (retail), I can imagine it would be doubled or tripled in a restaurant. In my opinion, there’s so much legal exotic seafood out there, it depends on a chef’s skill and experience. The term “sushi chef” is used too often in my opinion. A chef is someone who can create i...