Sugarfish Beverly Hills

Sugarfish began over dinner, as a conversation between Kazunori Nozawa, who opened Sushi Nozawa in Los Angeles in 1978, and Jerry Greenberg, a longtime regular and friend. His mission for forty years was simple: bring traditional Japanese sushi to America. The idea was to make that standard of sushi available to many more people. The first Sugarfish opened in Marina del Rey in June 2008, built around 'Trust Me', a set sequence in place of a menu.

The obsession is the rice. It is served warm and loosely packed, almost falling apart, made continuously in small cookers the company spent more than $50,000 and eighteen months getting certified for restaurant use, and thrown away if it is not used within thirty minutes. The vinegar is mixed in for exactly two hundred seconds. Nozawa, the company says, has been first in line at the downtown fish market for four decades, and the market opens fifteen minutes early for him. The soy sauce is made in house, lighter and less salty than most, and the sauces stop there.

The soy sauce is made in house, lighter and less salty than most, and the sauces stop there.

Order Trust Me and do what it says. There is, as the house puts it, no fusion and no crunchy stuff.

It does not take reservations, and it is open from half past eleven every day. Go for an early lunch, before the wait builds, and you will have eaten very well without making a production of it.

Text to ask.