Figured this deserved a new thread as the restaurant is a completely different concept now from the old thread.
They closed Attwater Morihiro to start a new concept in Sunset. All the same FOH and BOH with more faces to flesh out the larger and more ambitious undertaking. It is a full scale ala carte restaurant with a deep cocktail program led by Han Cho (formerly of Kato) and a robust sake list curated by their GM Tim Lin. The idea is that they will always have half of the restaurant open for walk-ins with a full bar, so patrons can come in for a few pieces of sushi and a cocktail.
In the very near future they will do a buildout inside for a premium omakase for Mori to helm, but right now they offer four seats at the far end of the bar for his omakase.
I’ve been following the buildout for the last half year and talking / brainstorming their new concept with them as it was being fleshed out. It’s quite the change from anything Mori has done so i had a million questions on their thought process behind what they were building and why. As always, Tim and Mori give a lot of thought behind everything they are doing at the restaurant and it was fun to visit for the Friends and Family night to see how those concepts ultimately played out.
As with all my reviews - Morirhiro is an Astrea Caviar client, this meal was free due to Friends and Family etc etc.
The menu is carved into three columns. On the left are small plates, appetizers, sides. Middle is all the nigiri options. Right side are cooked dishes and some rolls.
Then we get to the flip side of the menu for the very important alcohol. As previously mentioned, all the cocktails are created by Han as she is leading the cocktails. They are spirit forward, complex, beautiful drinks. Her drink profile actually reminds me a lot of Kumiko in Chicago (perhaps my favorite bar in the US) where flavors are teased out that normally would be an added ingredient but are built into the flavor profile without actually adding that ingredient.
Also very important, the suntory premium malt draft. Not sure there’s a restaurant in LA with a better suntory pour than Morihiro. It is a must order everytime.
My wife asked that i order the lychee cocktail
grey goose/st germain/sesame sochu
She was quite surprised to learn that there was no actual lychee in it. The drink presents as an essence of lychee. Fantastic and clean.
High ball
St george baller whisky, manzanilla, hojicha
Han came by as she noticed i had not finished the drink, she was worried i didn’t like it. But i was just pacing myself. It’s a classic highball presentation, aggressive bubbles, spirit forward but with the added inclusion Of the tea/rice you get a nice wheat driven flavor built into the complexity of the drink.
My wife demanded California rolls
Interesting choice on imitation crab, i asked why when they were first designing the menu and Mori said that he believes all CA rolls should be imitation crab, using real crab takes away from its general esence. Mori isn’t one to cheap out on ingredients, so i took him for his word on it.
I had one and with Mori’s rice, it is the best CA roll i’ve had.
My daughter ate all 6 tuna rolls and did not share.
Carpaccio - on a salad of greens, roast red peppers and plum. Wonderful
My favorite dish of the night
Chicken and vegetables
Sakura smoked jidori chicken oysters stir fried in celtuce. Probably the best chicken teriyaki i’ve had. I almost ate the whole thing by myself. I also love celtuce, i wish more places used it.
Steak and potato
Denver steak with an INCREDIBLE tempura sweet potato. I know when something is really good when my daughter fights us to eat it.
I got a sashimi plate- was excellent. Not pictured was the parade of Nigiri my wife and daughter ate. As always, excellent.
Chocolate mochi for dessert
dark chocolate driven which was a surprise, not too sweet!
Musk Melon Panna Cotta
This was a must order. If there’s one dish on the menu you cannot skip on, it is this one. Rich decadent cream underneath with sublt sweetness from the melon. None of my family wanted it so i ate it all gladly.
Not pictured - a fantastic vegetable tempura and market salad.