Following The Trails Of Sushi Ran: Kusakabe
![Kusakabe](https://moritzrecke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kusakabe-1.jpg)
Following the personal that left Sushi Ran in Sausalito for new endeavours in San Francisco over the past few month, I set out to test them all against my benchmark experiences at Sushi Ran.First, I managed to get a sushi bar seat at the not-yet-opened restaurant KUSAKABE, located in the financial district of downtown San Francisco. It is a very small place with roughly 30 seats, half of which are at the long sushi bar. Apparently, it will officially open on Monday, June 16 2014, so I was happy to got squeezed in. It is owned and operated by sushi chef Nori Kusakabe, a former executive chef at Sushi Ran.
Nori Kusakabe is the CEO and Co-owner chef of KUSAKABE. He has been the executive chef at Sushi Ran in Sausalito until November, 2013 where Michelin stars was awarded in 2006 & 2007. He was the Grand Winner of World Sushi Award and All US Sushi Technical Skill Champion. His past experience includes executive chef at the famous NOBU restaurant in Miami Beach.
Source: “About the owner chef, nori Kusakabe”, June 6 2014
They offer a fixed omakase menu for 95 $ which takes you on a journey through the highlights of Japanese cuisine. It contains a mix of mostly nigiri, very few sashimi as well as some sushi rolls, miso soup and other warm dishes. After around 10 courses you can still choose from the à la carte menu, which has a limited offer of additional nigiri and some deserts. Here are some pictures I took during the evening.
![Kusakabe - chu toro](https://moritzrecke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kusakabe-2.jpg)
![Kusakabe - whitefish](https://moritzrecke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kusakabe-3.jpg)
![Kusakabe - ebi](https://moritzrecke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kusakabe-4.jpg)
![Kusakabe - uni](https://moritzrecke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kusakabe-5.jpg)
![Kusakabe -Wagyu beef](https://moritzrecke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kusakabe-6.jpg)
![Kusakabe - aji](https://moritzrecke.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kusakabe-7.jpg)
The fish was delicious and very intense for it was served very traditionally without any fancy sauces or anything. So it really was kind of like Sushi Ran, but with a twist to it. There are some more people from Sushi Ran there in addition to the chef (1 additional chef, 2 waiters and sommeliers). Everybody was very nice and forthcoming and I even recognised some people from my visits to Sushi Ran.
Related
![logo](https://moritzrecke.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/mprecke-white.png)