Sunday, May 18, 2008

Omakase, OMG!

I took my partner to a cool place in town for his birthday.

Kappo is a small, hidden away gem of a restaurant in the Fremont neighborhood. It's located upstairs from the owner's earlier and very popular sushi bar called Chiso. Kappo basically has a small sushi counter for eight people and a couple of private dining rooms. Taichi Kitamura is the talented, young chef who serves a prix-fixe dinner omakase-style, which basically means the chef decides to prepare whatever he chooses. No menu. You give him a heads up of any allergies and food preferences. Usually the chef prepares what's fresh from the boat and whatever seasonal ingredients inspire him. Chef Taichi is also a fisherman who knows his fish and puts together each dish with a lot of careful attention. We had a great meal that I would consider more casual and spontaneous than the formal and fancy kaiseki meals you get in Kyoto. But still a lovely experience to have right at home.

Of course the pictures don't do it justice, but here's a small sample. This is a plate of super fresh, sliced Alaskan red snapper and some vegetables that you dunk and poach in the bowl of boiling water, just like a Mongolian hotpot.

Here is a chicken dish with fresh shitake mushrooms and asparagus.






All in all, it was a special evening, and my partner who is a super demanding eater was happy with the meal. We even got a chance to chat with Taichi a bit while we were feasting on his creations.

Oh, and Sparklepony told me to take a picture of the bathroom wall which has a photo mural of Taichi fishing.

9 comments:

sparklepony said...

So glad you liked it! My bf took me for a special sparkle dinner, we sat at the counter and gossiped with chef taichi. Every bite was amazing. The restroom is cool... I felt like I was standing by the side of the river. Stones embedded in the counter are taken from rivers that taichi fishes.

alfia said...

Sounds like you made this birthday very special, Armani! :)

Anonymous said...

That sounds wonderful!

I like sparklepony's name.

Samyama Mama said...

Oh, I am DROOLING! This sounds like my dream dinner. Your partner is mucho lucky! I'm going to insist on going here for my birthday. Since I'm just a peon, will they let me in?

Anonymous said...

sparklepony! arrrrrgh!

that food looks great. care to put a dollar figure on the night, just for information?

Anonymous said...

(oh, annabella, I have been wishing to be reincarnated as sparklepony. it is the BEST name EVER.)

Anonymous said...

Three cheers for sparklepony; she has the cutest name ever!

Armani, that's funny, I was just thinking the other day that it might be W's b-day. Say happy belated to him for me.

Anonymous said...

sparklepony. i want to cry. i want to be sparklepony so badly.

armani said...

Hi guys, thanks for the comments!

Lax: The price is $100, not incl drinks and any special requests. Not inexpensive, but I thought it was well worth it.

So, Pi', if you got the green you can get in!

More about sparklepony to come! Stay tuned!