98% Jiro Dreams of Sushi

As "2 Broke Girls" put it in its own wacky way, there is a huge difference between awful sushi and great sushi. And with the winning documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," we are at the awesome end of the spectrum in a ten seat restaurant, located underground in a Tokyo train station. As many shots of him walking through the streets attest to, Jiro, the proprietor, is as unassuming as his restaurant, not caring that much for the money. In any case, the price for a meal there starts at 30,000 yen, depending on the catch of the day but only sushi is served. If you're wondering(and I know you are), that comes out to about $367. According to a local restaurant critic and the Michelin Guide, it is worth every cent. Jiro has a simple secret to his success. He is one of those blessed few who love his job and with every waking and sleeping moment, he thinks of ways to improve the product. In lovingly detailed fashion, the documentary goes through the preparation of the dish from the selection of the fish and rice to the actual cooking in the kitchen, where it takes 10 years to train someone to make egg sushi. So much so, I am left wondering if there was any concern about any secrets that competitors might learn from watching this. Jiro, now 85, also has no plans to retire.(Only a health crisis at the age of 70 looked like it might derail him. It did stop his smoking, though.) He is also one of those people who if they ever stopped working, that might be it. He has two sons; the younger one with a restaurant that is literally a mirror image of his father's while the older one works at his father's. Since as Jiro frankly admits this is a group effort, it insures that the show will go on, even if the customers would miss Jiro once he is no longer there.(As one very satisfied customer puts it, Jiro watches the customers more than the customers watch him.) Now, the main cause for concern for this or any other sushi restaurant is the overfishing of the oceans.

April 8, 2012

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