bout time! I also think that each course should be a little bigger.
Did you get any shabu shabu?
Nope, no shabu shabu . He didn’t mention it for the future either, at least not to us
I didn’t see any meat shabu either but did get some great Spanish Mackerel (Aji?) bozushi and Hokkaido Uni in my recent meal.
FYI, the tatami room is looking great and seats are out. I’d guess that the June estimate is solid but then again you never know…
By the way, Tartine, at least a portion of it, is open for post-dinner if you’re not full (closes at 11 PM). I definitely was stuffed but gave the bar a try anyways since I’m seldom in the area. I know it’s not gotten the greatest reviews in the other thread but I enjoyed my cocktail, ham and honey flatbread, and a great dessert vermouth. Was bursting at the seams at the end though. Props to you guys who can keep going…
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Spring Menu
sakizuke - binchotan roasted hokkaido scallops, dashi soaked chrysanthemum greens, tosazu sauce, cucumbers
Nice combination of sweet scallops, vinegar-y tosazu sauce, and slightly bitter greens.
baby udo (japanese spikenard) sprouts, kobashira (hokkaido surf clam adductor muscles)
I don’t think I’ve ever had udo, but I want more. It tasted like a tender string-free asparagus. The fried kobashira were crisp and springy like baby scallops.
bozushi - kasugodai (hyogo prefecture baby red snapper), shiso rice, lemon, salt, wasabi
I love chef go’s bozushi, this one was very good but was less of a wow than his aji bozushi.
owan - live santa barbara dungeness crab suimono
Huge ball of unadulterated crab, with kanimiso (crab brains) as the only binder holding the whole thing together. fucking delicious.
sashimi - tai (kagoshima sea bream), live santa barbara spot prawns, salt, soy sauce, wasabi, fresh nori
textbook. the prawns were sweet with no slimy texture you get with raw shrimp. the fresh nori was interesting and was meant as a palate cleanser.
tataki hatsu katsu (seared, first of the season bonito), daikon, radish, citrus (daidai, sudachi, kabosu), myoga (japanese ginger shoots), fresh ginger
this replaced the abalone course. the skin was seared to a nice crisp char and the lean katus had a strong iron-y flavor that stands up to the various toppings.
nodoguro, lotus root
the nodoguro was smoky, fatty with delicious crispy skin. the lotus root was cooked over binchotan for 45 minutes that gave it nice soft and chewy texture.
kisu (japanese whiting), ankake (thickened dashi), fava beans, ginger
one of my favorite fried fish, the meat is lean, clean, and white. Like the jerry seinfeld of fish.
omi a4 rib eye, bamboo shoots, komatsuna greens (japanese mustard spinach), shiitake
fatty but still had that beefy flavor.
chinmi - kuchiko (sea cucumber ovaries)
Tasted more like salty fallopian tubes to me, but what do I know.
The Notorious B.H.G.
pickles
miso soup
sawara (king mackerel) meshi, kinome leaves x3
harry’s berries, kinako (roasted soy bean flour) whipped cream x2
Nice twist with the kinako, it gave the whipped cream a nutty flavor that wasn’t too sweet.
Overall another great meal at hayato, chef go is still executing at a very high level. He mentioned that the la times is about to come out with a review soon and a very conspicuous michelin inspector (french dude, in a suit, dining solo, writing down very detailed notes) has already been by. So get your reservations now while you still can.
Meanwhile, in other news, this man has been spotted roaming around ROW DTLA.
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Lacking aji’s unctuousness I would imagine?
Now that you’ve finally had A4, how would you compare to A5? My preference goes to A4 like I mentioned previously.
Maybe Chef Go doesn’t need to wait for Michelin for notoriety, he’s a part of Food & Wine’s 2019 class of best new chefs.
Congratulations to Chef on his success!
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yep
with the beef cut so thinly and cooked shabu shabu, i’m not sure i would even be able to tell the difference between a4 and a5. if sourcing a4 keeps the price down, i’m all for it. i wonder how much of a premium a5 is over a4.
Very nice. Love that room.
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Whole sale A5 usually costs $80-90 per lb or Striploin/Sirloin/Ribeye. IMO its so not worth it but being that I don’t see suppliers offering A3 or A4 often I don’t get much of an opportunity to save costs. TBH for steak applications I think American Wagyu is the way to go and Snake River Farms produces some of the best out there although there are a few up and comers as the premium beef market keeps growing.
So thats why your 4oz A4 wagyu steak at CUT costs about $120ish
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aaaand it’s here. Congratulations again to chef go.
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Thanks Bill. Now I won’t be able to get a reservation there ever again!
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Between Food & Wine and this, it will be next to impossible to get a reservation now. But such amazing news for Chef Go.
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Wait, you are a FOTC by now, aren’t you? This is a huge reason why we make nice with the chefs before the “dreaded” public outing of a great establishment.
If you don’t know now you know. Congratulations to The Notorious B.H.G. and his legendary hair (amirite @TheCookie)
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Exactly I knew Hayato was something special almost a year before all of this so after eating the bento I made it a point to go to the dinner. Chef Brandon was also nice enough to help me score a reservation to Kohaku (sister restaurant to Ishikawa where he trained at). I’ve been back to dinner one more time since then and we were able to book the entire counter via email.
Hopefully that means I won’t have to resort to Resy in the future like the rest of you peasants. Just kidding, but not really.
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He’s too booked for weekends to get reservations via E-mail now. I tried pre-booking 6-8 weeks in advance via E-mail for dinner with friend coming into town, and with demand, he couldn’t do it.
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