SideDish » sushi

New Mexican Restaurant to Open in Sushi Axiom Cedar Springs Location

Carol Shih — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:52:11 +0000

Nancy reported yesterday that Sushi Axiom in Cedar Springs is closing doors. The owners of Sushi Axiom and their business partner, Monica Greene, have decided to open a new (unnamed) Mexican concept restaurant in its stead. Sushi Axiom will move over to Addison and open in the space where Cyclone Anaya’s once occupied that area off Belt Line and Montfort. It’s slated to open in late summer 2012.

Good Asian Grub: Black Sesame Flan at Masami

Carol Shih — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:23:03 +0000

My current obsession: black sesame flan

It’s been eleven days, twenty-three hours, and forty-seven minutes since I tasted my first black sesame flan at Masami, a charming Japanese restaurant with traditional touches, and I’ve been going a little bit crazy in the head ever since.

Jump if you’ve never had this before.

To be honest, my dinner at Masami – first a Rainbow roll, seafood tempura, followed by pork tonkatsu – was quite unremarkable until the waiter brought over the Dobin Mushi ($6.50), a soup with miniature pieces of chicken, shrimp, and mushrooms floating inside a small tea pot. It comes with a tea cup about the size of your pinkie toe, which you pour the soup into, leaving bits of meat inside the tea pot for your chopsticks to fish out later. Not only was the presentation beautiful, but the broth was light, clear, and soothing.

But the meal peaked as soon as I finished all the salty courses and sat with the dessert menu in front of me. My eyes skipped all the fried ice cream and bananas, landing on the black sesame flan for $3.50. I’d never seen a sesame flan before. Curiosity won, of course.

Dobin Mushi soup with shrimp, chicken, mushrooms served in a tea pot

The Asian sesame craze has been going on forever. A good four or five years back when my cousin told me about sesame-flavored desserts, I was a little weirded out by the prominence of sesame ice cream, sesame cakes, sesame breads, and sesame bubble teas flooding the Asian continent. It wasn’t until I tried my first spoonful of black sesame paste that I swore this love was forever. And it was.

Flan itself isn’t an overwhelmingly sweet dessert – a fact that I enjoy. And black sesame has this natural nuttiness (similar to peanut butter) that makes it ever-so-slightly salty. When black sesame is combined with flan, it lends a toasty, warm flavor to an otherwise cold (temperature) dessert, which is certainly a nice way to finish a meal.

Masami’s sesame flan struck my taste buds to the core, and they’ve been itching to repeat that same feeling ever since. I’ve been Google-searching the Internet like a sesame-crazed scavenger, trying to find a suitable recipe for a flan that doesn’t seem to exist in the English language. Long-distance friends are even helping me with this hunt via email. Is there anybody out there who can link me to a good recipe? All I’ve found is this one. Once I get my hands on something better, my future plans include: making a sesame flan immediately, eating it immediately after, and then writing a sonnet that begins with, “Oh, how I love thee….”

Good Sushi In Richardson at Kinado

Andrew Chalk — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:36:14 +0000

The Rose: A dramatic special at Kinado

Given its Campbell Road address you might expect Kinado to be easy to find. Not so. It is tucked away an inside tract of the strip shopping center that occupies the southeast corner of Campbell and Central. Once you find it, you’ll discover a fairly dramatic dining room with chic, modern design elements that would not be out of place in any of the most fashionable parts of town. On one wall is a well-stocked bar that takes a stab at the current cocktail craze. On the other, there is an open sushi kitchen surrounded by seats for those who want to see the show. Subdued light helps to make the large space more intimate after nightfall.

Jump for the owner’s history of sushi in Dallas.

Chef and co-owner Tam Huynh comes from Vietnam. As a young man he escaped oncoming North Vietnamese forces in a small boat in which he made his way to Malaysia. After several months in refugee camps, family got him a visa to the United States. He started in the restaurant business as a busboy and found himself working at Royal Tokyo in the 1980s. At that time, according to one contemporaneous report, only 20% of the adult population in Dallas would eat raw fish. Royal Tokyo was one of only a few sushi restaurants and an incubator for several sushi stars of the future. Huynh recounted the chefs of the later restaurants Tei Tei Robata Bar, Tei-An, Teppo, Nakimoto, and Sushi Sake all worked at Royal Tokyo at the same time that he did.

Over time Huynh worked his way up the culinary hierarchy. He was opening chef at Steel in Dallas and spent several years as sushi chef at Naan in Plano. Kinado is his first part-equity venture. The restaurant opened in November and I attended a recent media event.

Kinado caters to several clienteles. First, there is a huge lunch crowd from the nearby Richardson offices. For this group the restaurant offers a menu of sushi bar favorites such as several Bento Boxes ($9-$12) that come with soup and salad. Popular items are Sea Bass Box ($12), Chicken Lemongrass Box ($9) and Tuna Steak Box ($12). The usual appetizers like Edamame ($5) and Fried Calamari ($8) are also available. The fried calamari on our visit was superbly al dente and topped with sesame seeds and sliced onion.

Seafood Soup

Next there is the neighborhood crowd that wants a quick evening meal of sushi favorites or cooked dishes. This group is served by entrees like King Crab ($28) served grilled or Giant Sea Scallop ($25) served with sautéed onions and jalapeño. There is a seafood soup ($10) that we tried and found to be rich and powerfully seasoned with black pepper but warming on a cold winter night.

Kinado is also attractive to people who want to be impressed. Since North Dallas is already sushi-centric, restaurants must provide special or unusual things to attract the discriminating crowd . Given his background at Steel and Naan it, is no surprise Huynh puts together special rolls that are both visually arresting and gastronomically tasty. We sampled The Rose, a martini glass filled with seaweed topped with seductively wrapped slices of yellowtail, tuna, salmon, and escolar (super white tuna) that was so prominent that it drew glances from passing diners.

Uni (center) and Jalapeño Tempura (right)

Some menu items are more fun than esoteric. For example, Jalapeño Tempura ($12) is a concession to southwestern sourcing that worked admirably as an appetizer.

After three months, Kinado is already shaping up as a solid bet for sushi in Richardson.

Restaurant Report: Geisha Steak and Sushi in Plano

Andrew Chalk — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:30:49 +0000

Chef Mario performs two kinds of magic.

It appears the restaurateur business in all of North Dallas and Plano has been zoned sushi only. There are at least 16 in Plano alone. Geisha Steak and Sushi in Plano held a media event this week to showcase their menu and illustrate they do much more than sushi. Geisha has a location that is at once very convenient (at the northeast corner of Coit and SH-190, close to the Plano Central Market) and easy to miss (they are set back from Coit, and below 190). However, those that find them can expect some interesting things.

Fuji-San Special Roll

First, we had a selection of special rolls including The Green Hulk (shrimp tempura, crab mix, topped with avocado, crawfish, wasabi, mayo and eel sauce), the Mango Tango (salmon, avocado, jalapeno, masago, mango, spicy mayo and hot sauce) and (my favorite) the Fuji-San (shrimp tempura, snow crab, avocado, topped with crab mix, tempura flakes and spicy mayo).

After a house salad and a Hibachi Soup (a mushroom, scallion, onion and egg soup in an intense beef broth), we moved on to food served from the Hibachi. Our chef, who had the traditional Japanese name ‘Mario’, whipped up the surf side first: salmon, scallops, lobster and calamari. Then he turned to the turf side with chicken breast, fillet and strip steak. These were accompanied by sticky rice, vegetables and noodles. The whole process of Hibachi, of course, is as much theater as cooking. He did all the usual knife and condiment tricks with the food for sure. However, he saved the best show until the end. It turns out that Mario is a frustrated magician. As we munched our food, he made coins go through bottles, quarters disappear and reappear in sealed boxes or inside a can of coke that he cut up with a hacksaw. It is best seen to be appreciated, and is less expensive than going to a David Blaine show. And David Blaine doesn’t cook for you.

Tim Rogers Likes Sushi Sake in Richardson

Nancy Nichols — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:03:56 +0000

My editor and sometimes friend, Tim Rogers, talks like he’s a really tough guy. He so tough he doesn’t sit at his desk, he has his computer table elevated and he stands all day. Like I said, he’s tough. But I’ll let you in on a secret: Tim likes to cook fancy food. And he brings the leftovers in and eats them for lunch. Yesterday he told me he took his wife and another couple to Sushi Sake in Richardson. He raved about the sushi and the service. He doesn’t think there is a better sushi restaurant in Dallas. I told him I’d ask you guys what the best sushi spot is in Dallas. Tim wants to go there.

Yamazaki Japanese Whisky Comes to Tei-An in Dallas

Andrew Chalk — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:36:29 +0000

Yamazaki 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky

I was intrigued when Tei-An sent me an invitation to a Japanese whisky tasting. I had tasted Scotch, Canadian, and Irish whiskies and Bourbon. Each had its own separate character. Given the isolated development of Japanese food culture–although it now has taken the world by storm and, in the case of our area, it looks as though most of north Dallas has been zoned ‘sushi’–I expected something just as unique out of the country’s distillers. I was to be proven wrong!

Japanese whisky is a dead ringer for Scotch, and that is not a bad thing. It turns out that a young engineer Masataka_Taketsuru studied whisky making in Scotland and was hired by the founder of what became Suntory (the owner of the Yamazaki brand) to head up the founding of a distillery in Japan. He made his whiskies to be as much like Scotch as possible, which he regarded as the epitome of great whisky.

: Yamazaki 18 Year Old Single Malt Whisky

At Tei-An, Yamazaki Ambassador Neyah White started us with the Yamazaki 12 Year Old Single Malt. It is aged in three types of oak (sherry casks and two types of American oak). The American oak gives it a rough, raw character. The nose had hints of orange and molasses. Next we went to the Yamazaki 18 Year Old Single Malt. I managed to catch the waiters before they loaded this with ice and drank it neat (although others added ice or water). As expected this was an altogether more tightly wound mouth feel. The nose was totally different from the 12-year old having notes of iodine and seaweed. But these notes were subtle expressions in a very complex whole. This would be my choice to sit and quaff all night to a Kurosawa movie.

We finished with a Yamazaki 12 Year Old Blended Whisky called Hibiki. Jason Kosmas, bartender at the forthcoming Marquee Grill and Bar, said that this is the one that he would use for cocktails.

During the event, Tei-An served some succulent morsels of chicken and edamame beans. I had none, as I have never found a food that enhanced the taste of Scotch whisky (although I agree that whisky can contribute mightily to a sauce). However, according to Neyah, Yamazaki goes with food and I look forward to hearing exactly what.

These examples illustrate the quality renaissance that Japanese whiskey has undergone in recent years. Whisky Magazine the “journal of record” on these things reports Japanese whiskies on more than one occasion beat Scotch whiskies in blind taste offs.

Sushi Rolling Class Tomorrow at Steel

Sarah Reiss — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:40:55 +0000

Back by popular demand, on Saturday, April 16 from 2:45 to 4:45 pm, Steel will offer their popular sushi demo/class. Learn how to make real sushi rice, how to prepare spicy tuna for rolls, how to prepare crab for a California roll, and how the sushi chef prepares a whole salmon for use in sushi making. In addition, you’ll get the skinny on slicing raw fish, making Nigori sushi, and rolling your own California, spicy tuna, and shrimp tempura rolls. The Sushi Demonstration is $55 per person, which includes a welcoming glass of sake, all sushi preparations, and a service charge for the Sushi Chef.
Call 214-219-9908 for reservations.

Four New Sushi Rolls at RA Sushi in Plano’s Shops at Legacy

Sarah Reiss — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:45:25 +0000

RA Sushi releases a spate of new menu items including the four new sushi offerings pictured above. From left to right: The Pacific Roll, "RA"ckin' Roll, Vegetable Tempura Roll, and Tropical Roll.

As if on cue:

RA (pronounced “raw”) Sushi in Plano’s Shops at Legacy, has introduced a host of new menu items from lobster with garlic sugar snap peas to Shishito pepper tapas, but the real standouts are the chef’s four new sushi rolls: The Pacific Roll is a spicy mix of albacore tuna, cilantro, jalapeño, and cucumber, rolled and topped with fresh avocado and mango salsa, and finished with red beet tempura bits and sautéed cashew nuts ($9.50). The “RA”ckin’ Roll includes kani kama crab and cream cheese rolled in rice and seaweed, lightly tempura battered, garnished with guacamole, topped with a “RA”ckin’ shrimp, and finished with a creamy ginger teriyaki sauce, red beet tempura bits, and togarashi ($13). The Vegetable Tempura Roll combines lightly battered asparagus, sweet potato, and Japanese eggplant rolled and topped with crunchy tempura bits and drizzled with a sweet eel sauce ($7.50). Finally, the Tropical Roll consists cucumber, mango, and avocado rolled and topped with spinach tempura bits, topped with spicy shrimp mixed with masago and mango salsa ($8.50).

Somebody Help This Poor Girl: Sushi in North Dallas

Nancy Nichols — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:40:17 +0000

Disher wants sushi. Hear her roar:

My cousin is in town staying at the Tollway and Spring Valley and wants to go out for sushi tonight. Is there somewhere good in that area, or in Addison you can recommend?

DUO Opens in Grand Style

Hayley Hamilton — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 14:00:36 +0000

You have to know when two of Dallas’ smart, successful and impecably stylish women come together to create an “all things culinary” concept that it is going to be good, especially when the names Fearing and Rathbun are behind it.

Tracy Rathbun and Lynea Fearing

Last night Tracy Rathbun and Lynea Fearing welcomed a chic gathering of Dallasites to their new culinary space and entertainment venue, DUO, just a few doors down from their Asian Fusion hot spot, Shinsei.

Over cocktails featuring Coole Swan Dairy Cream Liqueur and abundant appetizers including California rolls, vegetable rolls, fish tacos with avocado and soft egg custard served in the shell with truffle and maple syrup, guests mingled around the well-designed room filled with everything from furniture, to plate and glassware, to knives and kitchen gadgets, and food products by none other than husbands Chef Kent Rathbun and Chef Dean Fearing. (I heard a rumor recently that you can’t get Chef Dean’s bottled tortilla soup at Central Market anymore, you have to get it at DUO now.)

Jump for joy and pictures.

Chef Kent Rathbun shows Gary Cogill his favorite knife, for sale at DUO

The space is warm, elegant and fantastic. Unlike anything we have in Dallas. It reminded me of a cozy Eataly, Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich and Lidia Bastianich’s foodie extravaganza in New York, just not as big.

The venue is also ready to host cocktail parties and gatherings, as DUO includes a professional grade kitchen and their helpful staff is able to handle the food, wine, flowers and setup.

And, Chef Kent told me to expect chef taught culinary classes after the first of the year…hoping for a knife skills class personally.

Click here for even more great photos from the event.

Sake To Me! Niigata Sake Debuts at Tei An

Sarah Reiss — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:17:57 +0000

Takako Shigeno, general manager of Kinshihai Shuzo sake brewery founded in 1825

Yesterday afternoon, a contingent of Japan’s most notable sake makers from the Niigata province converged in Tei An in One Arts Plaza for a sake tasting and rice-wine education. Turns out there’s a lot more to sake than the hot bottle that appears in front of you at the neighborhood sushi bar. (In fact, of the seven sake makers I spoke with yesterday, the consensus was that sake should only be warmed by resting the bottle in warm water. According to the experts, warming it above 112 degrees ruins the delicate flavors.)

jump for the faves…

So how should we drink it? Believe it or not, chilled or over crushed ice, with room temperature coming in as a third option.

And which should we drink? That part is a bit more of a challenge as I don’t claim to have a refined sake palate. But after tasting 13 varieties and finding myself the holder of a substantial afternoon buzz, I was able to identify some clear favorites:

Musashino Shino's Daku Nigori Junmai unfiltered sake (right) and Heaven and Earth Junmai Daigingo

Manotsuro Four Diamonds

Kaku-Rei Ume-Shu Plum sake

Kirin-Zan Junmai Daiginjo

Musashino Shuzo “Heaven and Earth”

That is not to say that every single sake was not head-and-shoulders above the house sake I’ve been served alongside my sashimi. In fact, any bottle from the day’s tasting would make an excellent holiday hostess gift. And since all of these fine sakes are available at Monticello Liquor, it’s easy enough to go in and ask to be pointed toward the Niigata Sake selections. Or better yet, order by name the next time you’re lunching at Tei An. Your waitress might just slip you a little something extra for being smart enough to know better.

Secret Sushi Society at Zen Sushi? Sign Us Up.

Sarah Reiss — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 19:45:32 +0000

Sakura Roll (Kevin Marple)

Has the mainstreaming of sushi got you down? Looking for a way to gain entree into new culinary territory? Like the idea of dining with a club of like minded trailblazers with whom you can link elbows and push the limits of your palate?

Then check out the Secret Sushi Society at ZEN Sushi — a not-at-all-exclusive club devoted to expanding your palate through monthly dinners rife with exotic and uncommon combinations.

Yutaka Sushi Bistro Chef Instructs D Magazine Intern How to Make the Best Sushi in Dallas

Jason Heid — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:20:22 +0000

Elizabeth Johnstone, a member of this summer’s talented intern army here at D HQ, wasn’t satisfied merely to read that the best sushi in Dallas can be found at Yutaka Sushi Bistro. Being a curious sort, and having studied film at NYU, she was driven to make a short film wherein she would go head to head with master sushi chef Yutaka Yamato in a culinary battle over the construction of the finest California rolls in town.

Call it Iron Chef: Best of Big D.

What I’m Drinking Now: Spectacular White

Hayley Hamilton — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:30:43 +0000

I am on a white wine kick lately…probably because it is 100 degrees outside. I have had some really great ones in the past few weeks, and some even better pairings both at home and on a spectacular trip to the big island of Hawaii. Some are old favorites, some are new finds. Some came from our cellar, some were sent for editorial consideration. Here are a few ideas and pairings to try if you too need some light refreshment!

There is this great grocery store by the condo we stay on the sunny Kohala Coast. They have one of the most surprising (and affordable) wine selections we have seen. This trip we found great selections including 2006 Miner Chardonnay, 2007 Napa Valley Silver Oak (priced at $50), 2007 Penner Ash Pinot Noir, and a fantastic Frank Family 2008 Chardonnay. We had the Frank Family with our dinner one night of spicy poke with scallions and a big fresh salad with a macadamia nut vinaigrette. The Frank Family is definitely a bold white; barrel fermented for 11 months and aged on the lees, creating a creamy, buttery white that still maintains its vibrancy. Citrus and honey aromas with a nutty finish, the wine softened the spice in the tuna and enhanced the incredible macadamia nut vinaigrette.

The Canoehouse at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel used to be a very traditional Hawaiian restaurant…lots of sushi and macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi. Though the sushi is still available by request, Executive Sous Chef James Ortiaga has shifted the menu and created a restaurant with a strong French American influence…and it is as delicious as the views are stunning.
Hamakua mushroom risotto with truffled mascarpone; Tamari glazed Moi fish with foie gras and avocado cream; a Big Island fish bowl stuffed with prawns, scallops, clams and mussels in a spicy coconut broth; and my favorite Hamakua heirloom tomato salad with watermelon, micro basil and a sherry vinaigrette.
I changed this selection up a bit our last night and had the chef’s truffle vinaigrette on the side instead. One of the best flavors I have ever had (and one I have been trying to recreate since.)
We dined there twice and had the Grgich Hills Chardonnay on both nights. With all the flavors enjoyed above the wine was an incredible pairing. Crisp and light, with appropriate acidity matched with creaminess, this Chardonnay is one of Napa’s classics. The wine does not go through malolactic fermentation (changing the tart malic acid to lactic acid) thus keeping the wine fresh and lively; however the wine is fermented and aged 10 months in French oak, softening the overall flavor and adding nutty, vanilla notes.

We had dinner at our favorite spot on the Big Island, the Four Season’s Hualalai, which had re-oppend their Beach Tree Bar since we were last there. Pumped up Pupus and regional cuisine, with an eclectic flair. Truffled ricotta flatbread, incredible sushi, including a Hawaiian roll of tuna, mango and avocado, and Ahi tuna carpaccio with citrus, olive oil and black lava sea salt. We paired with Domaine Drouhin’s Arthur Chardonnay. The wine’s clean flavors helped the pure flavors of the fish shine. Half of this Chardonnay is barrel fermented, the other half is stainless steal fermented, making this a very pure and elegant expression of the grape with a very French Chablis style.

We enjoyed Shafer Vineyards’ Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay with a cheese plate filled with triple cream brie, Crater Lake Blue from Rouge River Creamery and a super sharp white Vermont cheddar with green apples, dried apricots and fresh baguette. As expected, this gorgeous white wine paired beautifully with each of these flavors. Nicely balanced and filled with apricot, honeysuckle, apple and toasty aromas.

We had dinner at 560 last weekend to enjoy some Dallas sushi. Their Rainbow and Dragon rolls paired nicely with a bottle of Hartford Family Winery’s Four Hearts Vineyards Chardonnay. Hartford Family Winery began in the early 1990’s and is dedicated to producing small lot Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and ZInfandel’s with character in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley. The Four Hearts marries meyer lemon with light white peach and pear flavors. Completely malolactic with spicy, creme-brulee aromas from 100% French oak barrel fermentation.

Going a bit lighter, I have had a few different Sauvignon Blancs lately that were both refreshing and filled with flavor and style. I wrote about the Sbragia Chardonnay a few weeks ago; I tried their Sauvignon Blanc the other night and enjoyed it as much as the Chardonnay. Much more of an Old World style Sauv Blanc, with good minerality and tropical fruit flavors of pineapple and banana. The wine is presented with a Vino-Seal glass top closure protecting the aromas and crisp flavors of the wine. This is a great aperitif to wake up the palate, drunk on its own or with Marcona almonds or goat cheese.

I have had several Chilean Sauvignon Blancs lately, and universally will say these are Dallas summer wines. Ultra light, refreshing and drinkable. The flavor profile as a whole is slightly earthier than we get with New Zealand or California Sauv Blanc, but has those bright citrus fruit aromas of lemon, lime and grapefruit. One I have enjoyed is Santa Rita’s Medalla Real Sauvignon Blanc, hand picked in Chile’s Leyda Valley and filled with grassy, citrus aromas and lemon peel mixed with mineral flavors.

Kenichi Dallas: First Saké Festival and Second Level II Saké Expert

Nancy Nichols — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:48:40 +0000

Kenichi Dallas is throwing a Saké Festival on April 8 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. Expand or begin your knowledge at the festival—there will be 40-50 sakes available for tasting along with light nibbles from Kenichi’s sushi bar.

More importantly, you will have the opportunity to learn from the best collection of sake experts in the country. Dig it:

Kenichi is also very proud to announce that Adam Faraizl, a Kenichi Dallas Asst. Saké Sommelier, attained Level II Saké Expert designation in February 2010 at the headquarters of the Japan Saké Brewers Association. Adam joins the community of fewer than 60 Level II Saké Experts in the world, as certified byThe Saké Educational Council (Tokyo). Adam further strengthens the Kenichi Saké Program.

Kenichi Dallas is perhaps the only restaurant in America with two Level II Saké Experts. With Kenichi Austin’s Brandi Ottesen’s attaining a Level I Saké Expert status this past January, Kenichi Restaurants now feature four certified saké sommeliers in its family–two at Level II (Hung Nguyen, Adam Faraizl) and two at Level I (Rob Albright, Brandi Ottesen).

Is this a great city or what? Make reservations. Space is limited. (214) 872-8883.