Oh Hokusai!

BeansTalk doesn’t often get the opportunity to eat in a high falutin’ restaurant. But when we do, we’re reminded of what we don’t get very often.

In the most recent case of this state, we had the extreme pleasure of trying a new restaurant, Hokusai in Beverly Hills. BeansTalk was invited to the opening on 7 March 2007. We can say, unequivocally, that it was one of our top five best dining experiences.

Each place setting featured a sweetly wrapped little menu. Although six courses were listed, we were treated to a mid-meal seventh “surprise,” in which some beautiful slices of fish were placed on an ultra hot stone and flash seared. We did it ourselves. Yum. Yum.

Here’s what we had:

Starter:
Kaishu sake served with premium sea salt and sliced cucumbers

1st Course:
ume fantasy thinly sliced halibut sashimi finished with plum olive oil

2nd Course:
boiled angel shrimp boiled and chilled angel shrimp served with a cherry vinegar mango puree and shaved black truffle

3rd Course:
temari sushi five pieces of Japanese Kyoto style sushi ball

4th Course:
seasfood antipasto crispy soft shell crab spring roll with cilantro cream sauce, black cod with baked eggplant, sautéed teppan grill jumbo scallop with garlic butter sauce

5th Course:
kobe beef stew simmered more than eight hours with cabernet sauvignon & soy honey

6th Course:
dessert specially delivered Japanese strawberry & champagne sorbet, apple compote, par filo with orange zest ganache.

We’re sighing just typing this.

We cannot recommend this restaurant enough for a special occasion or if you have the coin, for a lovely, unparalleled meal out.

Here’s the 411 from the restaurant’s rep:


"The art of dining well is no slight art, the pleasure no slight pleasure."
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, French essayist (1533-1592)

Artistry meets eatery at Hokusai, a new Japanese restaurant that mixes French elements into its comprehensive menu of traditional and innovative fine food. Named for the famous Japanese impressionist painter and wood engraver, Hokusai’s dream team of chefs and managers use their expert craftsmanship to design a beautiful dining experience.

General Manager and Partner Tiger Nakawake, along with Executive Chefs Charlie Nagase (kitchen) and Koji Matsuzaki (sushi), aim to create custom meals for guests with a sophisticated and adventurous palate who appreciate the worlds of fashion, beauty and art.

Nakawake—an experienced restaurateur— knows his sushi, traveling downtown along with Chef Matsuzaki three times weekly before the crack of dawn to buy the best quality fish. “I ask customers to trust me,” Nakawake said. “I love to create a Kaiseki—an ‘antipasti’ of several dishes served on small plates for them to taste all the flavors.”

Preparing sushi and cooking the best entrees that mix Japanese traditions with European flavors is more than a unique skill; it’s an art form. Servers and chefs of diverse ethnicities work at Hokusai, and all go through rigorous training to ensure their ability to provide the best service, often making suggestions to help patrons have a most pleasurable repast.

Hokusai’s atmosphere provides a perfect canvas for such evolved cuisine with its plush, contemporary booths and chairs upholstered in creamy leather. With décor that’s as warm, sexy and delicious as the food, the sleek look is crowned by a great talking point, a gorgeous tower etched with Japanese words for the elements and seasons in the center of the dining room.

“We are geared toward professionals who appreciate the finer things in life,” director of operations/partner Jeffrey Nitta said. “Business people ages 25 to 45 at the top of their professions or on their way up who will tell you honestly what they think and what they want.”








Japanese restaurants shouldn’t just have the best quality sushi; they need to serve the most delicate and elegant cooked foods as well. Nagase and Matsuzaki were both trained in Japan, and Nagase also trained in Europe and apprenticed with Hiroyuki Sakai, the Iron Chef French.

“Chef Nagase’s Kobe cheek stew is simmered for eight hours with soy red wine and veal stock, so tender that it just falls off the bone,” Nakawake said.

The menu also boasts signature dishes such as: the Saikyo foie gras, sautéed and served with eggplant with Saikyo miso, Lobster Truffle, sliced, boiled then chilled and served with diced truffle and cherry vinaigrette, Jidori Chicken grilled with spicy yuzo koyso sauce, and a Rib Eye served with jalapeño butter and veal soy sauce.

“Our presentation is amazing and so is the balance of the sauce,” Nakawake said. “Our competition is not other Japanese restaurants. We consider the competition top Italian and French restaurants.”

Replete with sake and all the ingredients to make a refreshing cosmopolitan and any other cocktail, a full bar complements the evolved menu. It’s fitting that its location on Wilshire Boulevard is just off of restaurant row, symbolic of Hokusai’s venturing into a new, exciting terrain of fine Japanese dining.

“We’re a one-of-a-kind restaurant you can visit on back to back nights and have two completely different culinary experiences,” partner Edward Yoon said. “You can have sushi one night and steak or chicken the next, and have them be equally delicious and satisfying, all with excellent service and cocktails.”

With such a wide range of choices and perfected flavors, you won’t forget you’re eating Japanese food, but after Hokusai, your definition of great Japanese cuisine won’t be the same.

Located at 8400 Wilshire Boulevard (at Gale) in Beverly Hills, lunch prices range from $15 to $29 and dinner from $45 - $55. Valet parking is available. Future plans include additional locations and a continuously evolving menu that brings the cutting edge of Tokyo to Los Angeles.

“The passion of this team translates to the service staff that can execute, educate and deliver such an inventive dining experience to this LA market,” Nitta said. “We’re not just hype. We have soul.”