Will Travel for Sushi

For the best sushi on the planet, Tokyo is the obvious choice—along with just staying in L.A. and hitting-up Nobu. But here are a few new spots worth the travel for fresh nigiri and award-winning omakase meals.
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Vegas, Baby

Two-Michelin-star chef Tetsuya Wakuda from Sydney and Singapore unveiled his first U.S. restaurant in partnership with 50 Eggs Hospitality Group at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. WAKUDA’s elevated Japanese cuisine was inspired by the Shinjuku area of Tokyo.

Highlights include the intimate eight-seat omakase and private sushi room where signature dishes range from poached angel prawns with shellfish soy sauce to smoked ocean trout salad and Yaki Shabu Omi beef, paired with your choice of more than 100 sakes—Tetsuya was honored as the first international sake ambassador by the Japanese sake industry—including rare vintages produced in small batches by sake artisans and specially brewed for the restaurant.

 

Island Life

If you’d rather hit tropical shores, Sushi Sho at the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach is a coveted, 10-seat omakase restaurant led by legendary chef Keiji Nakazawa. This is the chef’s first restaurant outside of Japan, and the menu reflects the way he was inspired by Hawaii’s local bounty and abundance of fish.

The omakase experience features an edomae style of sushi utilizing over 40 types of fish, which is an ancient method that emphasizes aging fish to maximize flavor; most guests will have about 30 different dishes during their experience. The restaurant also offers a one-of-a-kind private beach excursion, where bento boxes featuring the chef’s innovative techniques for aging, curing, smoking, brining, and pickling fresh seafood are paired with sake.

 

South of the Border

For Nobu in a different setting, visit the Nobu Los Cabos hotel and sushi restaurant in Cabo San Lucas. When you want a break from tacos and tequila, sit at the sushi bar for fresh nigiri and rare sake. Specialty items with a Latin flair were created just for this location, such as the short rib mole miso and crunchy lobster tacos.

 

California Love

 

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For sushi worthy of a road trip, Sausalito’s Sushi Ran has been given a Michelin nod for inventive rolls, Wagyu yaki, seaweed salads, chicken karage, and sake flights. The Rosewood Miramar Beach hotel in Montecito now holds the intimate 13-seat AMA Sushi bar offering one omakase seating (edomae style) each evening with sake pairings or an à la carte menu by chef Kentaro Ikuta. Fiish at the Platform in Culver City features chef Colin Whitbread crafting sustainable sushi sourced from the Sea of Cortez with winning combinations of Ōra King salmon with dry miso powder and halibut with smoked olive oil, trout roe, and plum salt.

Sake Hundred is elevating the sake-drinking experience by releasing its flagship Byakko Bespoke ($380), which is made from the “king of rice,” Dewasansan, at the Tatenokawa Brewery in Yamagata, Japan—known for making Junmai Daiginjo, the highest-grade sake designation, requiring over 200 hours of meticulous polishing, rendering delicate aromas of white flowers and stone fruits.

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