by Diana Serbe
Japanese cuisine is as clear as a string of notes in a Mozart sonata. Like those notes, so seemingly simple, the techniques and ingredients are exposed. There is no place to hide if the elements do not fall seamlessly into place, and if you dare to experiment, you must be sure of what you're doing. Tyson Cole, chef and owner of Uchi, knows what he is doing and his dishes, like those notes of Mozart, soar with brilliance.
In a Japanese restaurant, Omakase means to trust the chef. Knowing we could trust the chef at Uchi, we ordered omakase, turning our restaurant adventure, our very palates over to the chef. Both hot and cold items would be included and they would appear, dish after dish, sized as appetizers, so we could savor many tastes, many combinations.
We were happy with this choice, for dining at Uchi is an experience like no other. After a palate-clearing green tea sorbet, the first dish appears. You sit awestruck by beauty. The dish is as perfectly executed as a skillfully cut diamond. Unable to do more than look at the work of art before you, you are shocked into silence.
Then you slowly lift the first incredible morsel to your mouth - perhaps the finest slice of sea bass in a tangerine-infused oil, an example of fusion cooking rising to the highest art. If you are ravenous and ready to gulp your food down, you will find yourself eating slowly because the taste rises to the presentation. The citrus is a livening hint, not a tang. It is there, as are all Uchi dressings, to breathe over the natural flavor of the fish, not mask it.
This is omakase and the menu varies on the whim of the chef, but at Uchi it is not whim, rather an intuitive guess that, yes, this dish will please. And please they do with fish flown in fresh from Japan daily. Try the maguro sashimi, a cold combination of micro greens with goat cheese under a delicate drizzle of pumpkin seed oil. From the hot menu try the mero nabe, a pan roasted sea bass in a light soy-dashi broth with arugula and tempura scallions.
You can go to Uchi to order sushi and sashimi as hand rolls, but even these will surprise and delight. Try a bass and tuna rolled in rice paper with radish sprouts, cucumber, tobiko, japanese mint leaf and orange bell pepper salsa. The rice paper wrapping is so thin that you wonder how it hasn't broken, but this is a restaurant that values skills. And the tastes are so subtle that you will not drown them in soy sauce. Something unique is happening here at Uchi. Something extraordinary.
Uchi is a lively restaurant. The sound of conversation fills the air, and you can guess that there are people waiting, yet no one rushes you through this experience. You are there to enjoy the atmosphere, the fun of tasting Cole's creations. You can choose to sit at the sushi bar where Cole may serve your needs himself, or find a table and allow the staff to serve you. The staff is attentive to the diner's needs, and with innovative food, the needs are specialized. Explanations are necessary as you ask, "What's this?" "What's that?" The staff is knowledgeable and eager to explain the food.
A great chef is never complacent. A great chef will always turn an apple in his hand wondering what more can be done with it and think of yet another dish. A great gourmet will wonder what the chef is doing now, and will return to the restaurant again. Then again. And again. There will always be something new.
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