I’ve been meaning to return to Inn Ann since a lovely meal there earlier this year, but sadly it is no more, at least in its present incarnation. I think they had a hard time making the location work.
I got this email yesterday from Japan House.
JAPAN HOUSE LOS ANGELES ANNOUNCES
NEXT PHASE OF ITS RESTAURANT PROJECT
After a successful year of welcoming local and tourist diners since opening its doors in 2018, announces the temporary closure of its restaurant, the acclaimed sushi tasting restaurant INN ANN, as of December 31, to begin preparations for next phase of its restaurant project.
In its opening year, INN ANN invited Chef Taro Araki , executive chef for the Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles and the recipient of the Excellency Award by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in 2016, to help produce a seasonal kaiseki tasting menu to offer patrons a rare experience to dine like foreign dignitaries for a limited time. Following Araki, **Michelin-starred Chef Morihiro “Mori” Onodera served as the executive chef as he shared his deep knowledge and mastery of rice and sushi through his original tasting menu incorporating California ingredients and produce. Throughout the year, INN ANN consistently received strong media reviews.
In the next phase of the restaurant, JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles will serve as a culinary incubator by providing a platform for rising star chefs and young talents who will be exploring and showcasing their skills and culinary creativity through pop-up events. It will be kicked off in January 2020 with an event introducing “Yoshoku” or Japanese-style Western cuisines, which has been gaining popularity in the U.S.
It wasn’t meant to be a permanent thing. It’s not a business.
Inn Ann is Japan House’s newly-installed dinner restaurant. It’s a place for chefs from Japan to come to the U.S. for events, one-off dinners, and long residencies, working a rotating kaiseki menu depending on the chef.
Amazing dinner with Mori san on Saturday night. The good news is that he is thinking of opening his own place sometime in 2020. I wonder what he would call it? Mori is taken, and Onodera is partly used by SGO.
I absolutely loved that space! Are you talking about what a PITA it was to wind your way through the Hollywood and Highland shopping center to find it? That I would agree with, but once you got there, I loved the space. That whole shopping center, however, is a disaster in terms of access. Much worse than even the late great (not) Westside Pavilion.
I love the space as well!
Even winding the escalators through the Hollywood and Highland and then entering to a “hidden” restaurant has its charm, at least as long as you had Mori-san prepare omakase for you!
I especially hated the whole Hollywood & Highland center itself and then getting to thr 5th floor and winding your way around endless balcony walkways to finally find the Japan House. Even within Japan House, it was awkward to get to.
I went ~4 times and sat at the counter in front of Mori every time. At the counter you don’t really see the rest of the room or the view of Hollywood Blvd as it was behind you. It felt to me like the space should have been designed to have more than 6 seats at the bar.
But I’d go anywhere Mori is making sushi. He truly is a master.
There was a similar situation in Hong Kong where a chef by the same first name had a restaurant back in 2013 called Sushi Mori, then he went on to open a newer restaurant and left the previous restaurant (probably sold his share or departed the restaurant group) which is still around, but the then new place used his full name.
So in this case, Sushi Mori Onodera or Sushi Morihiro Onodera would work just fine. Or “Something (insert meaningful Japanese noun)” by Sushi Mori.