When friends ask us if we’d like to go out for sushi, Restaurantarama has to pause, take a very deep breath and say, “Mmm…maybe. Depends on where you’re going.” That’s because unlike going out for a pizza, which can be great or just O.K. but unless burnt to a crisp is really never terrible (nothing covered with cheese is), the spectrum of sushi is extreme. Bad sushi—e.g., rice that falls apart or has no flavor; oversized slabs of sashimi that are chewy or too fishy; a menu with an extensive list of bizarre cooked maki options to appeal to inexperienced Western palates (ghastly things such as barbeque chicken) that outweighs the raw seafood options—makes you want to commit hara-kiri. Meanwhile, good sushi that balances textures and flavors and looks like edible artwork is, in a word, transcendent. It takes superior, fresh ingredients, the knife skills of a samurai, lots of on-the-job training and, yes, love to create ”good” sushi—the sexiest, most presentational and perfect bite of food in the cuisine universe. So when we heard a place called Sushi Love was taking over the old Zydeco space on Elliewood Avenue, our heart leapt that this could be the real deal. After speaking with general manager Daniel Kim, our hopes are alive, at least in terms of Sushi Love’s intentions, as the place won’t open for a few more weeks:
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“Not a finger-food/drink place,” Daniel Kim promises about Sushi Love, soon to open on Elliewood Avenue. |
“Sushi Love is a casual, non-pretentious, fun environment serving up the best quality Japanese food in town at affordable prices,” says Kim, not exactly modestly.
Though Sushi Love will serve beer, wine and sake, and will have a contemporary look and feel and sports bar-like amenities such as TVs to appeal to the student crowd in their midst, Kim says the quality of the food is the top priority and focus of chef and owner Harry Kang, who has been learning the art of sushi for over 15 years. Starting as an apprentice in traditionally hardcore Japanese kitchens, Kang owned a string of Japanese restaurants in Southern California before moving to Washington, D.C. Kim says Kang will use the best types and cuts of seafood available. “We’re going to be a full-fledged restaurant. Not a finger-food/drink place,” says Kim, who also comments that he wants Sushi Love to “elevate the taste buds of Charlottesville to what sushi can be,” as well as provide a healthier dining counterpoint to typically fatty student fare.
Kang and Kim, who first met several years ago when both were art students (Kang at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and Kim at the Otis Institute of Art and Design in Los Angeles). They discovered a shared love of good Japanese food and have been partnering on and off on Japanese restaurants since then. With their artistic sensibilities and resumés—Kang has worked as a textile artist and Kim most recently was an art director for a large Cali-based marketing and advertising firm for 10 years—expect everything about Sushi Love to have good design, from the nigiri-maguro to the tatami room in back.
When it opens in a few weeks, Sushi Love will serve lunch 11am-2pm and dinner 5pm-2am, Monday through Saturday. Kim hints that there also will be some form of “entertainment” and though he’s keeping hush hush about the specifics for now, but we have an educated guess it rhymes with paraoke.
