use real butter

After my very productive day, we went to sushi for dinner. We don’t indulge like we did in So Cal because it costs twice as much for quality that is not as good. It’s still good, it’s just not the fine art of Hiro or the handywork of Fumito. And at the bottom of the bill it says, “Domo, Dude!” How Boulder.

anago and avocado cut roll, dusted with masago and seaweed

toro (fatty tuna) hand rolls – sublime

the fried head of my amaebi staring back at me (it was delicious!)

Yes, you can eat the WHOLE head. Just make sure you chew everything really well before swallowing lest you puncture something on the way down (kidding, sort of). Honestly, if we’re sitting at the bar next to sushi virgins, I secretly like to order amaebi or masago with quail eggs. I’m not even hardcore by sushi standards. I don’t do uni (sea urchin) or nato (stinky fermented soybeans) or the reproductive parts of sea critters I didn’t even know had reproductive parts.

We had denied ourselves our favorite restaurant for far too long. It was time to go and tell Fumito that we bought a house, and that he needed to move his business to Boulder. Any one of my sushi-loving friends can tell you that this place is AMAZING. Fresh fish, incredible sushi, awesome price. It helps to have known the chef for over 12 years. We’ve had sushi in Auckland, Queenstown, Toronto, Seattle, Bellingham, Hilo, LA, SF, Santa Cruz, Denver, Boulder, Albuquerque (that was a mistake – but Jeremy was the one who ate there), Ithaca, Boston, Williamsburg, Atlanta – nothing compares to Ai. My girlfriend from Tokyo says it is the real thing. Tonight, Fumito was very happy to see us, and piled our plates with a lot of freebies, like toro (fatty tuna). This stuff is $6 a piece and he gave us 4!

He was also messing around back in the kitchen preparing seaweed and poke salad for us. Another one on the house! I’m very sad to be leaving these fellows. This is the absolute best sushi bar on earth. Sushi Zanmai in Boulder is good, but it ain’t no Ai. The softshell crab handrolls were to die for tonight.



Sushi is beautiful food.