Thursday afternoon sushi with Hana Japanese’s Ken Tominaga has been extended through November at Healdsburg’s Shimo Modern Steak.

241 Healdsburg Avenue  Healdsburg, 433-6000.

The former Go Fish and current Hana Japanese itamae will be serving up his own freshly-made sushi from 11:30am to 2pm Monday through Friday at Fresh by Lisa Hemenway (5755 Mountain Hawk Way, Santa Rosa, 595-1048), an upscale gourmet market that features both prepared and fresh foods, a casual cafe and coffee shop.

Takeshi-san will be moonlighting behind the counter during lunch for eat-in orders and will prepare pre-mad takeout sushi for the late afternoon and evening crowd. With more than 20 years in the biz, Uchida’s skills are as sharp as his knives, putting him (at least in my book) in a similar league with the venerable Sam Ogura of Yao-Kiku; Ken Tominaga of Hana Japanese and Hiro Yamamoto of Hiro’s in Petaluma.

Cindy Pawlcyn’s fish-centric Go Fish recently changed format, dropping sushi from the menu and reopening in late Augustas a Mediterranean bistro called Brassica. Pawlcyn’s reasoning: “It was important for me to transition from a purely seafood-centric menu as an advocate for (the aquarium’s) Seafood Watch program, supporting sustainably sourced seafood,” she said.

Uchida, you may remember, was an early BiteClub find years ago when he was doing a pop-up sushi stand each week out of the Oddfellow’s Hall in Santa Rosa. We’ve missed our daily lunch visits, so Uchida’s take-out is a welcome return to memories of his Secret Sushi past.

Rather than opening a fourth restaurant to sate his noodle passion (he has ownership stakes in Cyrus, HBG and Shimo), Keane has instead, introduced the steaming earthenware pots on Japanese lacquered trays to his recently-opened steakhouse.

Served only in the bar, it’s a generous DIY meal that starts at a thrifty $7.95 for a bowl of noodles and broth with bean sprouts, onion and nori. Add-ins range from humble roasted garlic and pickled ramps (.75 to $2) to wild mushrooms, a slow-cooked egg, and tofu ($2.50 to $3); pork belly, chicken, shrimp and prime rib ($4-$4.75) all the way up to waygu for $20 per ounce.

Best bets: Ramen miso with wild mushrooms, egg, and pork belly (for heartier fare) or a lighter ginger dashi with tofu, pickled ramps and watercress. Complex fermented, earthy, salty, vegetative and sea flavors can be unusual to American palates more used to more sweet and fruity dishes, but it’s worth getting out of your comfort zone on this one.

Bonus: A complimentary snack of crispy, spicy, salty fried wonton strips and wasabi aioli is gourmet crack that’ll have you jonesing for another fix. Regular menu items from Shiso are also available like the beef-essence biscuits and beef tartare that Mr. Jason refers to as “land sushi”. Plus, a full bar with top tipplers featuring yuzu and ginger, not to mention artisan sakes that will delight fans and sway non-believers.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, but my family and friends said, ‘No more restaurants’,” Keane tells BiteClub.

241 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, 433.6000

Morimoto's open kitchen

All I can think, walking into Napa’s Morimito is…am I really cool enough to eat here? Downbeat music pumps onto the sidewalk, perfectly matching the rhythm of the Furstenberg-esque wedges marching their way toward me. Attached is a faux-hawked Glamazon I’m afraid might either eat me or mock my five-year-old fake alligator pumps from Target. Either way, not a great way to start the night as we — fashion’s before and after — enter the weeks-old space.

There’s no doubt that Masaharu Morimoto’s newest restaurant in Napa’s downtown Riverfront development is Wine Country’s most, well, un-Wine Country space. There’s no stucco or faux-Italian charm, but instead a stark, minimal urban space with concrete floors, vast windows and a clean Japanese sensibility. Several hostesses greet you at the door, while an army of staff line the walls waiting to present masterworks of Japanese/California cuisine to Morimoto’s rabid fans.

Morimoto is, as most foodies know, the Iron Chef of Iron chefs. An alum of Nobu and countless other restaurants, he now has several eponymous eateries (Philadelphia, NYC) and is in the works with (we hear) three more just this year. Morimoto, unlike other Food Network personalities, however, has the actual cooking skills to draw serious eaters, rather than celeb-gawkers. During the opening weeks, he’s been a constant presence in the kitchen, and spends a considerable amount of time in Napa. (Fellow FN personality Tyler Florence is opening a restaurant next door in the coming months).

Here’s the lowdown:

- The menu is classic Morimoto. Cold Appetizer: Toro tartare ($25), Tuna pizza ($16), wagyu beef carpaccio ($21). Hot Appetizer: Bone marrow with five sices ($16); beef tartare with asparagus flan ($18); fig tempure with foie gras peanut butter sauce ($16); kakuni, a 10-hour roasted pork belly with rice congee, soy-scallion jus ($15). Entrees: Whole Roasted Lobster, $35; Duck, duck, goose (duck confit, sliced duck breast, frozen foie gras with a duck egg ($36); Angry Chicken ($26), Wagyu beef (up to $56) Sea Urchin Carbonara ($28); Ishi Yaki Buri Bop, yellowtail on rice cooked tableside; ‘Pork Chop and Applesauce’ with kimchee, bacon and ginger apple puree ($32). Oysters $18 for six. Maki: California roll with snow crab meat ($7); crispy salmon skin roll; eel avocado roll. Soups and Noodles:  Ramen ($14); Tofu Miso ($14), Duck Meatball Soup ($14). Desserts are yawn-worthy.

- You’re here for two things: Seafood (especially sushi and sashimi) and the Waygu beef. Morimoto is a notorious stickler about his fish, usually flying in exceptional seafood from Japan. Waygu is a highly marbled, incredibly tasty kind of beef. It’s the breed of cattle used for kobe beef, but typically from America (and therefore not allowed to be called Kobe, which only comes from Japan).

- Okay, there’s one other thing Morimoto does really well, and that’s duck. Duck, Duck, Goose is dish of duck confit, foie gras (there’s a ridiculous amount of foie gras on Morimoto’s menu), sliced duck breast, and fried rice with a duck egg on top.

- Service is impeccable, if a bit young. We had a parade of servers bringing us dishes, and some seemed undertrained on what they were serving us, though very accommodating. We were also impressed when we couldn’t located the foie gras in Duck, Duck, Goose, the dish was whisked away and we received a completely new entree with a plethora of foie gras.

- Overall, the food quality was very good, but not life-altering. Presentation is awe-inspiring, but the taste of of the food just didn’t quite live up to what you’re seeing. The duck breast was a bit dry, the fried rice uninspiring. Beef belly with congee was a favorite dish, the toro tuna entertaining, and much care was taken with the oysters and sashimi.

- Sound-levels are a huge problem. The glass and concrete make for a noisy echo chamber, and talking quickly turns into shouting at your table mate. The open kitchen/hallway makes for an awkward entrance, as servers spill into the narrow walkway, chatting and blocking the way. Another huge issue are the plastic chopsticks — did anyone realize that oily pieces of raw fish slide off with a “plop” into your soy sauce, with little chance of recovery?

- The hip-factor is fairly intense: Thus far, this is the spot to be seen in Napa. The bar quickly fills up, as does the sushi bar along the open kitchen. Lounge seats are prime real-estate, and you’ll see plenty of the valley’s movers schmoozing at their tables. So dress the part.  In other words, don’t wear the Target pumps.

The restaurant’s off to a solid start, but whether Morimoto can continue to control the quality while opening more restaurants and maintaining his existing properties is yet to be seen. As one of my dining companions said, “It’s the kiss of death, opening that many restaurants.”

Morimoto, 610 Main St., Napa, (707) 252-1600

It used to be that you could pretty much throw a slab of raw fish at me and I’d clap my hands in joy — kind of like a sea lion.

I’m over it. Truth is that like taquerias, there are far too many Japanese-style eateries churning out mediocre imitations of the real deal in hopes that we won’t notice. I recently visited a local sushi spot that served me a still-frozen slice of tuna and had the gall to charge $5 for that nasty surprise. I’ve been served rancid mackerel and octopus so tough I nearly broke a tooth. I refuse to wade through a swarm of flies at the door of a certain sushi spot for warm crab salad rolls. I recently tried some really outlandish sushi rolls at a Korean BBQ joint. Bad plan.

Thing
is, unlike a bad $3 taco, you can’t help but feel like a sucker when
dropping $30 or more for gnarly sushi. I’m willing to pay the price for
a sure thing at places like Ume, Go Fish and Hana where I’ve had slices
of fish so buttery and rich that they brought tears to my eyes. I’m not
willing to pay it when I leave a restaurant feeling like I’ve got a
50/50 chance at serious intestinal distress.

Call it the Americanization of Sushi. Raw
fish has gone from exotic ethnic food to mainstream fare — popping up
everywhere from gas stations (seriously), supermarkets and convenience
stores to the haute-est of old school restaurants. Yay for
accessiblity. Yikes for execution.

The art of making sushi –
which refers to the vinegared rice, rather than the fish itself — is
just that. An art. True sushi chefs train often train for years, even a
lifetime to master the perfect rice, form the perfect Nigiri, learn the
exacting cuts of fish. Devotees return to the restaurant again and
again, learning from the master and putting themselves in his hands
(called omakase or “it’s up to you”).

I won’t pretend to know
much more about the mastery of sushi outside of what I’ve learned over
15 years of loving sushi and a friendly Wikipedia assist, but I can say
that the increasing preponderance of American-style sushi rolls (mango!
wasabi mayonnaise! lots of fried stuff inside!) sends me (and most true
sushi chefs) into convulsions. California rolls are one thing. Stuffing
a piece of nori with as much sweet, creamy, fried stuff as it will hold
and then squirting sauce all over it is quite another.

I love
fried goodness as much as the next guy, but it seems to me that the
point of sushi is to actually taste the freshness of the fish. One has
to wonder what exactly is getting covered up in all the goopy gloppy
stuff. Every time I get talked into one of these $14 rolls I end up
with a mouthful of mayonnaise and a stomach full of regret. Maybe I’m
just being grouchy. It wouldn’t be the first time. But sheesh, they’re
everywhere!

All of this has everything and nothing at all to do with Sebastopol’s newest entrant into the Japanese restaurant game, Tosaki Sushi. I will say right off that I had an absolutely fine bento box experience there – nicely done tempura,
miso, rice and four small pieces of sashimi. I enjoyed a softshell
crab. The restaurant is very clean. The service is a bit slow but very
friendly.The overall experience was quite decent. Thing is, I simply couldn’t bring myself to enjoy what seems to be a core focus of the restaurant — creative rolls. Especially when the sushi station was empty most of my visit.

Regardless,
here’s the lowdown on Tosaki: There are nearly 30 rolls to choose from
varying from straightforward to outlandish, all with photos of
extravagantly done plating. Very pretty stuff. Heaven if you love wacky
rolls. The California Sun Roll has fried crab meat, avocado, unagi and passion sauce (?); The Spicy Girl Roll ($12.95) includes spicy tuna and crab topped with seared tuna. There’s the usual Rainbow roll, Dragon roll and Caterpillar roll. You can get really crazy and go for the curious Sagano roll (“Special”
fish topped with hamachi and banana fried prawns, $14.95) or the Mojo
roll with shrimp tempura, cucumber, salmon and mango ($14.95).

The list goes on an on. The large lunch and dinner menu also includes more
traditional sashimi and nigiri as well as “Japanese hand balls” or temarizushi which are hand-formed balls of fish and rice. Chirashi fans can get their sashimi over rice and there’s plenty of udon, teriyaki, yakitori and tempura as well. Plenty to love even if you’re not a roll fan.

But for me, the glitz and glare of super-Americanized rolls just outshines the beauty and simplicity of well-executed Japanese-style fare. I mean what’s next? Sushi rolls with French fries? Heh.

What’s your take? Do you love outlandish sushi rolls or hate ‘em? Is Tosaki the next sushi sensation? Am I way off base? Tell me.