There are stories of Nozawa strolling the Los Angeles fish market, hands behind his back, a blank look on his face, but behind his eyes every fish has a certain beauty etched into its scales. So it is a pageant of sorts where the lucky winners, the chosen ones, will be served as sushi that night. And a small group of fish buyers from other sushi restaurants in town follow Nozawa, invariably to fight over his leftovers. But these are just stories, embellished, no doubt, as they are passed from person to person.

SUSHI NOZAWA is on Ventura Boulevard just west of where Lankershim divides Ventura from Cahuenga in an unassuming strip mall. The décor fits its location, a combination of hand-drawn One-Bite Nozawa Cartoons, flourescent lighting, and neon. But it is the food we are here for tonight. And following the sign on the wall behind Nozawa-san we ask for the special, the Trust Me Special. We trust him. There is a specific phrase for it in Japanese but I forget such things the second I’ve committed them to memory.

The first taste of the Baby Tuna Sashimi, and Oh My God! This is good stuff. Awesome. The best I’ve ever tasted. 

And this is followed up by Toro, which is also the best, but not by quite such a large margin. And then the Albacore is back on track flipping on those Tasty! switches in my brain. And I normally hate Albacore. Unfortunately, with such a great beginning, like the first delicious drop of a roller coaster, the rest of the meal seemed just good in comparison. And then there was the one extra final round, which perhaps Nozawa-san was not prepared for, because he gave us fresh water eel, Unagi, and this happened to be just plain mediocre.

But still, that Albacore!