Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14049
TRY THESE DELICACIES: 1. SUNRISE ON 2ND ST. a safe choice with spicy shrimp, crab, and avocado, beneath tuna, masago, and chives 2. SEXIE GIRL three fish, wasabiko, and mango compilation wrapped in thin cucumber slices, comes in a faint soy and lemon ponzu sauce 3. YELLOWTAIL SASHIMI It's about as thick as a one subject notebook Because sushi can have few rules, and is most often shared with friends, family, and significant others, character is imperative. Sushi Studio happens to be the heavy-weight champion in this division. Beginning with their menu that doubles as a comic book and ending with a staff that could just as easily be serving up life wisdom behind the bar in an Irish pub, the whole experience is interactive and original. Patrons share food, drinks, and advice. Sushi chefs engage their clientele, and each brings his own personality and specialty – offering off-menu concoctions that customers specifically request. Our chef, Rain, invented a series of half-crescent moon avocado slices packed with spicy tuna, and then wrapped back together. Consistently soft all the way through, it is both sweet and spicy simultaneously, and one of their finest dishes. "They should add this to the menu," my companion noted. "Immediately." The yellowtail sashimi is about as thick as a one subject notebook, but as yielding and impressible as a cotton ball. The 'pay roll,' a three fish, wasabiko, and mango compilation wrapped in thin cucumber slices, comes in a faint soy and lemon ponzu sauce, along with Rain's savvy advice to: "Go barehanded on this one. It will save you a lot of hassle." Their signature roll is the 'sunrise on second street,' a safe choice with spicy shrimp, crab, and avocado, beneath tuna, masago, and chives. Sesame teriyaki sauce pools around each piece. Faintly seared tuna and albacore form the wings of 'The Butterfly' as a thinly sliced avocado constructs a torso down the middle of the plate. A spread of mango salsa paints the wing's designs. Thai influences are as prominent as Japanese, as evidenced by their slogan: "Japanese with a Thai kick." Many of their chefs are in fact of Thai descent, which leads to them partaking in nontraditional and welcomed diversions: edible canines sculpted from shrimp nigirizushi, bears BECAUSE SUSHI CAN HAVE FEW RULES... CHARACTER IS IMPERATIVE. erected from orange slices, and thankfully, the roti pancake dessert. The thin, unleavened but firm dough of this Thai crepe is fried and portioned into miniature triangles surrounding a softball of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. Sprinkled powdered sugar and cinnamon add to the spine tingling sensations created by the contrasting warm pancake, chilled ice cream, and of course, sweet and sticky coconut milk floating around the plate's crevasses. Rookies and veterans will feel equally comfortable at Sushi Studio. Willing guides help beginners, while halving asparagus and wrapping it in baked yellowtail for more experienced guests. And in both cases, servers move with such fluidity that empty plates seem to vanish while drinks refill themselves. There are more ideal locations for a quiet, intimate evening, but probably few offering more boundless, lighthearted pleasure. n Sushi Studio 4917 E. Pacific Coast Highway sushistudiolb.com 866.SUSHI.99 AUGUST 2010 SPORTS & EDUCATION 26