Back to the meal at Omakase @Barracks Row
The food was solid B+, with a range from B to A- A few of the items were very strong, and some of the techniques he is using are seriously old school and impressive. We liked the food quite a bit. The sake list is also extensive and well chosen. I was quite impressed with that.
We had a good meal, but the overall take away was of a strange evening.
We brought two bottles, as their corkage policy is $50 and max of 2. We asked for 2 glasses at the start so we could have both the champagne and sake going. First, the stems are awful, truly terrible. Heavy, squat, and (strangely) chilled/frosted. That last was totally weird. I mean maybe a martini glass should be chilled, but not a wine glass. And the wine guy even asked me if I’d like him to keep one of our glasses chilled while we waiting to pour the second of our two bottles. I declined. I told the beverage guy that he really needs to up his stem game. Not only does his list deserve it, but anyone paying $50 corkage is going to expect better than the equivalent of jelly jars.
Then there was the was the way the meal was run. Upon entering, each diner or group is seated at the counter (only 10 seats) by the manager/Master of Ceremonies/Beverage Director who greets everyone and directs them in a very formal and ceremonious style. On this night, at least, he was speaking in such a loud voice then and throughout the evening, even when speaking to just one diner, that I wondered if he’d been to a rock concert the night before or something that made his ears ring. His manner was extremely affected and somewhat pompous, and really rubbed me the wrong way at the start. I was totally prepared to hate him (that improved later, thank goodness).
He went on to tell everyone what they should expect, how their “experience” would unfold (he used the word experience waaaay too often), and even when they should go to the bathroom (after a piece of nigiri, so that chef could “pause the experience” for the whole party). I started silently referring to him as the Fish Nazi.
During the entire meal, he stood behind the diners and announced/described each course. The information was often interesting, but presented in such an affected manner that it was hard not to roll my eyes. Also, having these frequent loud annoncements come from behind you while the food was coming in front of you was awkward. Everything about it was awkward - it was hard to relax and chat with my husband with these frequent PA-like announcements happening, and I think the other diners felt the same, as most were just whispering to each other, if they talked at all.
Some of the information conveyed was really interesting, but some of it was just silly. Like when he said that the next piece had to be eaten the instant it was made, so the sous chef was made to run, literally, the 4 steps from the chef to the diner after each one was crafted. THis was ridiculous - there will be no change in the temperature of a piece of fish over the course of 1 versus 2 seconds.
The guy also kept telling us about how “Chef Ricky” does things, or what “Chef Ricky” thinks or feels or likes or believes, all this while Chef Ricky is standing right there making our dinner. I get it that his English isn’t fluent, but when he did speak it was with quiet humor and ease. I wish he’d said a lot more.
Last odd thing - neither of the chefs, nor the floor guy, speaks Japanese, but they all used random words and phrases in Japanese to communicate with each other. It was very strange. I asked late in the evening if anyone did speak Japanese (sometimes if one of the chefs does, a server will try and accomodate with some words or phrases), but was told that no, they just like to use it like a “secret code” between them. Okay, you know - some people speak Japanese even in the US, so it’s not exactly secret. Anyway…
I know it sounds like I hated everything about this, and I did start off that way. But we managed to draw out some unscripted discussion with the floor manager, who in fact knows a ton about sake, and has put together a really strong sake list. By the end of the meal (sorry, The Experience), we were laughing about all the pompousness and having a good time. Once most of the other diners left, we started chatting with another couple and shared some of our sake, and even chatted a bit with Chef Ricky. So we ended up having a good time, but it’s hard to let go of the feeling that it was just a weird evening.
