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Home » Culinary Connection

Culinary Connection

Ahi Sushi: A Quiet Standout on Ventura Boulevard's Sushi Row
By Gerry Furth-Sides

It's easy to drive right by this quiet sushi place with its black, white and red logo on Ventura Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon. No loud music or roller skating sushi chefs here - and chef-owner Jimmy Wu is Chinese.

Yet Ahi Sushi has become enough of a stand out to celebrate its sixth anniversary on Ventura Boulevard, an area with enough fiercely competitive sushi restaurants to rival Tokyo. Jimmy chuckles, paraphrasing the famous song, "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere."

So what makes the understated Ahi Sushi so special? Maybe it's Jimmy's "zenlike" personality behind the sushi bar that makes it into a "cool place" and a favorite of valley locals and celebrities, singles, family and children. Initially many of Chef Wu's customers followed him from the notoriously wild Sushi Zawa in Burbank, now closed. Jimmy prepares many of the artistic dishes he learned there, and creates as many more, infused with unusual ingredients such as jalapeno and exotic vegetables.

Right up front you see diners enjoying themselves on the outdoor patio that wraps around two sides of the building. Inside, a soothing entryway fountain leads to a peaceful wall-sized mural of ancient Japanese gathering treasures from river, perfect to introduce Jimmy's menu of fresh, wild-caught fish and organic meats.

The full and fun sushi bar with pinlights above encourages conversation while tables around the softly lit room are ideal for private conversation and lingering over a meal.

For both classic and updated dishes, Jimmy uses the finest ingredients to carry out traditional concepts of clean, creative cooking with substance that drew him into the Japanese culinary world 25 years ago.

For his menu of 45-50 sushi and sushi rolls, Jimmy sources fish from Japan, Hawaii and local fisheries, all meticulously kept fresh at the exact right temperature. Top grade seaweed that keeps sushi perfectly crisp is stored in a special moisture-proof called a toolbox or "crisper" from Japan. It stands behind the sushi bar with its own heater.

Another list announces fish market specials with a dozen or so dishes priced from $8.95 to $14.00 with most under $10. A regular menu list appetizers, salads, soups and entrees.

The Premium Saki Sampler Dinners and Bento Box lunches offer a variety of inexpensive dishes for a quick, healthy and tasty lunch. The Saki Sampler dinner features premium cold saki, unfiltered for a purer taste.

With so many options, Jimmy and his chefs are happy to give suggestions, especially for Ahi Sushi's conversation-starter line up of fancy specialty rolls. Ahi Sushi white fish from Japan, wild salmon and wild blue fin tuna are perennial favorites.

Signature dishes include a Spicy tuna tartare with avocado, guacamole and wonton chips; "Blue Fin Tuno Toro On a Rock" (slightly marinated, then seared on a hot stone rock on the table); Lobster roll with garlic paste and lobster sauce in rice paper; yellowtail dressed up in deep-fried jalapeno.

My personal "first dish" that sets the standard for a meal is Spanish Mackerel, arriving here dusted in salt and lemon, succulent enough to make a fish eater out of anyone. So will Jimmy's a rice-less dish of blue crab, the tuna dressed in almost translucently thin shards of cucumber, the sashimi salad, lobster roll.

For those unconvinced non-fish eaters, there is a mean rib-eye steak with teriyaki. For all, a cubed wedge of fresh mango is the fresh, sweet and refreshing finale

For an extra kick with any dish, try the finely tuned lychee martinis and mango mojitos. An extensive list of warm and cold sakes includes red and white wines and the trendy soju (wine with a super high alcohol content). A server is only to happy to offers samples.

Artist and religious scholar, Jimmy Wu's own background may have a lot to do with his touch of Zen. From his earliest years in Shanghai, China, Jimmy trained as a classical violinist and arrived in Chicago as a teenager to study music.

Jimmy's life changed with a part-time kitchen job at the prestigious Hotel Nikko, where he fell in love with Japanese cuisine so deeply that he soon began apprenticing. Three years later he was allowed to handle a knife; 15 years later he owned his own restaurant as an accomplished sushi chef.

Catering is Jimmy's latest venture and it started out not with a whisper, but with a bang. At the "The Last Samurai" premiere for 30,000, he did a station of lobster rolls, traditional albacore and spicy rolls for 10,000 people!

Ahi Sushi, (www.ahisushi.com) 12915 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City ,CA,91604. ( 818 ) 981 - 0277. Ample free parking.

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