Nearly 10 years ago, I met my neighbors J&J. They were from Boston just like me, but they were different from me, as they made it BIG in the dot-com biz, got out just in time, and made a ton of cash by age 32. Don't get them wrong, J worked for free at the very start of the first commerical start-up dot-com with a bunch of other forward thinking people, J stuck with it, showed incredible hard work and loyalty, J set a lot of html standards, and the years of starvation paid off. Nearly 10 years ago, J gave J a trip to NYC to Nobu for her birthday, and they took in a fabulous Omekase - chef choice tasting menu made by one famous
Iron Chef Morimoto. They sat with Uma and Ethan on one side, and John Cusack on the other. When J&J came back, we sat down, and they told me all about their amazing dinner at Nobu. After hearing their story, I have been fantasizing about Nobu and a meal made by Chef Masaharu Morimoto.
Since I have already dined at the
original Morimoto's, I still had in my mind that I would like a Nobu experience.
While in the Bahamas for Xmas, my Japanese fusion dining wish came true! We had Xmas-eve reservations at Nobu in Paradise. The place was hopping, the wait staff was awesome, and the sushi chefs were personable! We were at a loss to whether to take in the Omekase menu, or a la carte per person. We had a few dining differences, with one non-meat eater, one non-raw-fish eater, one non-seared fish eater, and one non-spicy eater. The waiter said that these restrictions are NO Problem at all, and that we were safe to put our trust in him to bring out food courses, and tell him to stop when we were full. We thought that was a grand idea, and toasted with our White Star Moet to get the evening started.
1st off was yellowtail sashimi, ponzu, jalapeno and cilantro for the the raw eaters, and there was cooked salmon and ponzu for the cooked eaters. It was fantastic, to have a bit of each of the 3 elements at once.
2nd was a seared tuna salad with a pile high of baby greens. I am not sure what the cooked side had, but there was plenty of salad for everyone. I really liked this salad because the onion vingrette was applied sparingly, allowing for the fresh lettuce and tuna flavors to come out.
3rd, a teriyaki beef dish with enoki, shitake, asparagus, and onions. This dish was pretty good, by far, was the least impressive. The beef was cooked to well done (which none of us at the table care for, as we are all medium rare kind of people), but because it was a good cut of beef, it was fine. The visual composition was pretty.
4th, scallops 2 ways. The first preparation was spicy red chili seared scallops with asparagus, and the second preparation was wasabi seared scallops with asparagus. Rice was served to accompany the sauce. You should note that wasabi spice is a root, like a parsnip, and has an rich, earthy, woody , fresh flavor, has an earthy truffle type nose, and is not generally assultive like that imitation horseradish stuff you get at average USA Japanese Restaurants. The real wasabi root and scallops were slightly green, and had fragrant lovely sauce. I basically claimed the wasabi scallops for all my own, and I would have licked the bowl clean, had the waiter not removed the empty serving bowl. The wasabi scallops were by far my favorite!
5th, miso cod, the Nobu signature hot dish. This dish seemingly is made by marinating cod in miso, mirin, and honey, then searing the skin side down, and then finishing under a broiler or perhaps a salamander oven. This dish is simple, but effective. The fish was just cooked to perfection, juicy, just flaky, and hot all the way through without over cooking. Very good!
6th and last course was the sushi course. I must say, the fish was quite fresh, and melted in my mouth.
As a special request, I got 2 pieces of toro tuna. The first and last time I had excellent toro tuna was in Boston, about 20 years ago, when my sister was friends with a sushi chef in on of Boston's oldest and finest sushi bars. That sushi chef, wanted to date my sister, so he always gave us extra special service, great comps and the best and finest fish. Those days are gone, my sister married someone else, and the sushi chef, well he dated and married a hottie. Anyway, Nobu toro was very good, made in a straight forward way, and the flavor reminded me of the good old days of my favorite Boston sushi chef.
What is this plate above? Well it is what I made for dinner after returning from the Bahamas. It is Nobu-style cod, stir fried broccoli and mushrooms, and a mess of fried rice and split peas. The marinade I made for the cod was 1 part yellow miso, 1 part mirin, 1/2 part honey, 1/2 part wine, and a pinch of red peppers. I did not sear the fish first, so I just put into the broiler for about 9 minutes for a 0.9lb slab of cod. The honey carmelized well, and the the marinade thickened and added a nice glaze. Super simple, super easy. The hardest part was trying to find a good piece of ocean fish in Nashville. I had gone to 3 different stores for about a week before the Harris Teeter in Belle Meade had one decent looking piece of cod. Who knew that the lowly Boston fish-fry fish - Cod, could be elevated to such a status of being haute cuisine at Nobu and Chez My House?
The cheese that I got are all mostly extra aged cheese that can be kept in the fridge for many months, ready to eat. I also ordered this cheese in the winter so I know that the cheese will be ok traveling in cool temperatures. Do you want to know what I got? Here is the list: Italian Auricchio Provolone, aged for 1 year, domestic extra-sharp Provolone, French aged Mimolette, Spanish aged Manchego, Italian Reggiano Parmigiano, and Italian Recorino Romano.
Nashville has been way behind the curve when it comes to cheese up until recently. I think people here only knew of a few cheeses until now, and that would be American, cheddar, and pizza cheese. Up until recently, grated cheese sprinkled on Italian food is Parmesan from the shiny green can. Just this year, there is a cheese shop that has opened down the street from me and they carry some cheese. They are working hard to educate those who love cheese about really great and flavorful cheeses. They don't have the range of cheeses as my favorite cheese store , but hopefully they will over time.
So, I opened all the cheeses, and here are two that I cannot get easily here in Nashville, Mimolette and aged Manchego. The Mimolette is a lovely French cheese that is salty, firm and a cheddar flavor. The Manchego has a lighter flavorful than the Mimolette, but it has a nutty flavor with nutty earthy nose. Both are excellent. I tried the domestic Provolone, and it has a sweet and sharp flavor that can hold up to any good Philadelphia cheese steak. The aged Italian Auricchio Provolone has a smoother, nuttier flavor than the domestic, and the texture is very stiff like a great aged cheese you would grate on top of garlicky pasta. I am in heaven!
