Photo: Eze Amos
Yoshihiro Tauchi doesn’t speak much English, but he knows the language of sushi as well as anyone.
“He started from the bottom,” says Sana, Tauchi’s daughter, who acted as a translator for a recent interview. “That helps him understand—when he is making sushi—the whole process.”
After years in the fish business, doing everything from product transportation to cutting large sides of seafood in New York and Washington, D.C., Tauchi started working his way through Charlottesville’s sushi community. He began introducing palates to raw fish at Foods of All Nations back in 1998 and went on to be the sous chef at Ten, partner with Lemongrass, and operate his own restaurant.
Now, he’s found a new home in an unlikely place: the tasting room at Vitae Spirits. “It is a collaboration,” Sana says. “They do cocktails that pair well with sushi, like the Tauchi 75.”
Tauchi’s menu is traditional sushi fare done the right way: chef’s choice sashimi, classic and inventive rolls (e.g. the Godzilla Mountain with unagi, cucumber, avocado, and unagi sauce), and apps like takoyaki and sashimi carpaccio. This summer, Tauchi may unveil a reservation-only full course tasting menu, with apps, rolls, sashimi, nigiri, and dessert.
Further down the line, he wants to offer dry-aged sushi, a trend that’s popped up around the country over the past five years.
“Charlottesville is a very special community, where they are open and want to experience and learn more about Japanese culture,” Tauchi says. “People are willing to try new things.”
