Iron Chef
I have this thing for hole-in-the-walls. You can drag me, noosed in a silk tie and constricted by a wool suit, to a real restaurant any day. Seriously. Please. I want to eat at Chez Panisse, Gary Danko and the French Laundry. But even if I did, I think I would feel out of place. What I really want is an eight-table, fly-by-night, family-run, super-hyphenated masterpiece. And I have one. And I don’t want you to go there.
The reason I don’t want company is because this place is already on the verge of becoming, I hate to say it, successful. And I don’t begrudge them. It’s just that I’m a selfish, greedy bastard and I want it all to myself. If you’ve never felt this way about a restaurant, then go click on the archives and read this blog from start to finish. There are restaurants that are out there to remind us why we don’t always cook for ourselves. Sometimes it’s economy of scale (Farolito’s), sometimes it’s the view (Cliff House), and sometimes it’s sheer genius (Minako’s).
I have to admit that I absolutely adore Japanese cuisine. I adore a lot of cuisine. I don’t want to be pegged with any particular favorite, but there is a lot that is appealing in Japanese aesthetics, and cuisine is certainly not the least among them. And while you may criticize Japanese culture as xenophobic, this gaijin daro would give an organ to be served miso soup before every meal.
It is with a heavy heart that I reveal my favorite Japanese restaurant to you, the public - or the two of you reading this, anyway. It’s called Minako, and you can find it between 17th and 18th streets on Mission. This is where your money is actually worth something in terms of unmitigated human experience.
I was first introduced to Minako by a friend named Anna. She had known the server, Judy, and the chef, Miko, for some time. After my first lunch, replete with inventive and unique dishes, I was a fan. I didn’t make it back until a year later, dragging an unwitting and unexperienced friend. On my generous tab, we polished off nine courses of a kaiseki meal - stuffed like trophies, we finished with a generous dish of warm sushi rice, topped with raw egg (which cooked with the heat of the rice) and barbecued eel (unagi). I have spent $100 on a meal in New Orleans. I have eaten a $150 of food on top of the World Trade Center. $75 for what I ate that night is one of the best bargains I have ever encountered. Fuck you very much McDonalds.
The latest meal I had I started with a chilled ginjo sake from Takara brewery in Berkeley. Takara brewery is responsible for the Sho Chiku Bai brand that is available all along the west coast. Ginjo is a term that refers to the purity of the milled rice used in the brewing process. Junmai is sake made from rice milled to 30% pure starch. Ginjo is milled to 60%. Dai Ginjo is milled to over 60% pure starch. Nigori is a junmai sake that is not filtered after fermentation, resulting in kind of a spiked horchata - a milky, sweet liquor.
When my guests arrived, I ordered some specials from the daily menu. Minako had salmon recently fished from Point Reyes - so two pieces of salmon nigiri were on order. So rich, they could have used just a touch of the hibachi and some lemon. Starters included the ‘Hidden Wasabi,’ which was aptly named. A dumpling of homemade tofu - toothful like a fresh cheese, and with all the fermented muskiness of that inimitable french dairy concoction - hid a nice big bite of greeen wasabi in the center. My only caveat is that the wasabi is stricly powdered - even though it’s grown in quantity in Oregon.
Next was a broiled scallop. A sea scallop was barbecued (here one could taste the smoke of the hibachi) and placed on its shell. It was topped with a wasabi remoulade and green-dyed tobiko roe. It was a rich yet refreshing delight. The sashimi which constituted the bulk of our order was fresh and rich. Vegans are well served by dextrous substitutions like yam for eel in unagi, as well as avocado for salmon, greens for squid and tofu for tuna and beef. Minako caters to a progressive, organic, vegetarian crowd with the same home style touches given to the omnivores.
There are only two problems with Minako, and neither of them should ever stop you from eating there. First, it’s on a pretty depressing stretch of sidewalk - I’ve seen a lot of crack smoked on Mission between 17th and 18th. And a meal is expensive - there are few prices on the menu. But I will cross my heart and swear to God that it is the best restaurant value in the city of San Francisco. I am a huge Iron Chef fan, and I would sponsor Miko from Minako without reservation. Some may call it ‘Japanese country food’ - I call it heaven.
