There is an anomaly in the dining out universe. Have you ever noticed that when we encounter a positive dining experience our first reaction is eagerness to share the details with the people closest to us while simultaneously planning our return visit, except when it comes to sushi? With sushi restaurants it seems to be this covert operation of research and development. Hours of sampling and analyzing. Picking that one restaurant that you will call “your sushi restaurant” but like a poker player with pocket Kings, you keep it close to your chest, only to dole out the information when the situation calls for it. An important date or out of town family member will benefit from your research but you’ll be damned if your going to tell the guy in accounting; you don’t want the whole world to know!
Today I will share with you “my sushi restaurant.” Sakura in Crow Canyon Commons, San Ramon is my Japanese home away from home. No other place I know greets you like Tony does, and he has been doing it for over 17 years.
I didn’t realize how special it was until my 3rd visit, and here is why. My first visit was the research part. Fish focus heavy and Sakura nailed it. At the same time I got to meet the gregarious character behind the bar named Tony, who (in hindsight), paid close attention to our names upon introduction.
The second visit was developmental—a bit more daring in the fish selection. A real “let’s open this thing up and see what she’s made of” outing. Again…nails, and Tony, who had us repeat our introductions from the first visit months prior with little to know fanfare. The third visit was well over a year later. I walked into Sakura at 7pm on a fairly busy night.—“TOBY-SAN”—a genuinely excited Tony yelled from behind the roll he was constructing. Game-Set-Match!
No matter how much time passes between my visits, it’s always the same sprinkled with the knowledge he gained from my life on the prior visit. “TOBY-SAN, how is your wife?”; “TOBY-SAN, how old is your baby now?” He is incredible. Fifteen plus years in the business and I have never seen such light in another human soul so effortlessly shared with hundreds.
Okay, what about the fish? Tony does what true Sushi Chefs have been doing in Japan for generations. Every morning before you have even thought about your snooze button, Tony makes his way to the fish market to find out what is fresh. If it’s good, he buys it, then trucks it to San Ramon and prepares it with the artistic ability reserved more for those with brushes rather than knives. Knowing there is nothing I won’t try, he seems excited to peel back my head and drop previously un-heard of creations directly on my brain. I have had an oyster with layers of flavor and texture that would have Narsai David quitting his job for lack of anything better to write about. I have had Bonito fish that transform me into a samurai and my wife a geisha. I have had whole pickled baby octopus that looked as though it may actually leave my plate in a mad dash for the sanctuary of the ocean. And Tony always has OO Toro!
I always ask Tony how business is, and with an obvious heavy heart his last three responses have been, “Not good Toby-San. Not good.” This will not happen on my watch. Sakura is a goldmine of everything we look for in a dining experience. The Oakland A’s call this place home. A friend of mine, in her mid-twenties, has celebrated her birthday there every year since she was eight.
I’m not suggesting you should go — I’m telling you! Support the things that make this area so special before we wonder “what happened?”
Sakura Japanese Cuisine
3151C Crow Canyon Place, San Ramon, CA Tel.925-277-1628
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