Pretty interesting article/story. For reference, Endo is/was one of the best sushi restaurants in London but caught fire last year and is currently out of commission (though not gone - doing pop ups etc I think).
Lots of stories about the chefs journey as a chef. It also covers a trip to Japan where the chef meets his suppliers. A couple points of interest were the effect of weather on ingredients. Recommend reading if you’re a fan of sushi!
Thanks for posting. Didn’t hear about their fire, but at the end it was nice to hear that at least his knives were saved.
Interesting to note that he imports his water! For some reason, I was under the impression that some restaurants in Europe (like in France or UK) could not import Japanese fish, at least for some time, but it seems like I was either mistaken or that’s changed. Perhaps the use of non-Japanese fish was more just a practical or business decision.
For maguro, I’m not sure that Hicho is “perhaps the most celebrated tuna merchants in the world,” like the article says, but they are definitely one of the big 5 tuna wholesalers in Japan. Some may argue that a couple of the others are more exclusive. Sushiyas in Japan most famous for maguro tend to correlate with the other providers - Yamayuki and Ishiji, but also Fujita and Yunoka. Sushi Namba previously used Hichou but then switched to Yamayuki. There are various tiers of auctions and wholesaler relationships, but of course ultimately the result is a lot about the work, technique, rice, balance, etc. Sushi Inomata / Kojimachi Nihee uses Hichou and their maguro is really excellent!
An interesting note from Luxeat’s blog is that Endo’s mother gave him 3 notebooks when he left in 2008.
”they were filled with records of how to store and age fish, a logbook with notes about rice cooking, and scores of recipes. There were three recipes that particularly stood out, for three different types of sushi vinegar used throughout the family’s history. During lockdown, Endo-san started to experiment with the recipes and found the oldest of them to be the one matching his rice the best”
There are so many great sushi chefs, and I wonder what kind of international notoriety they would have if given the right opportunity. Would love to hear their stories as well!
Yes! Was really happy to hear about that too. Fire can be so devastating in a place that you call your own. Was a neat end to that story.
Maybe just a change in regulation/environment? For example like in LA with some shellfish not being allowed to import in a certain way. Or perhaps new entrants to the high end fish distribution market? Too bad we probably don’t a Euro-focused perspective on hand to chime in haha.
When I saw it wasn’t Yamayuki I did wonder! I just assumed anything written in the article might have included some dramatic flair. Yamayuki has been the most famous for me and I never hear about others, though clearly they exist. Thanks for sharing more on that front! 