The Kabuki chain of nine restaurants began in Pasadena in 1991. They are scattered throughout the larger Los Angeles County area, with one in Rancho Cucamonga, Cerritos and now one in Huntington Beach.
The prices are right and the food travels broadly through sushi, sashimi, traditional Japanese dishes and specialty creations that bring Japanese cuisine completely into the modern milieu.
The decor is stunning. If we begin overhead and work our way down, the ceilings feature floating circular and angular abstracts. Knowing that sushi bar seating is ordinarily at a premium in most restaurants of this genre, they’ve taken note and given us a big and graciously curvy granite-topped sushi bar that is backed by a massive modern Japanese mural.
Colorful lighting sets a somewhat playful mood and the electric blue that lights the backbar shelves holding various kinds of liquor bottles is striking. Waves of etched glass serve as walls behind custom wood tables.
|
|
Kabuki in Huntington Beach: 150 menu items offered every day |
Every Kabuki location is complete with a full bar that turns out exotic specialty cocktails, many of which are prepared with sake and shochu, Japan’s other indigenous alcoholic beverage that’s much like vodka. The Huntington Beach location has a full sit-down cocktail bar.
Drink specialties include the Sake Alexander (sake, Cointreau and lemon juice), Tsunami (shochu, pineapple juice and grenadine) and Plum Martini prepared with plum wine and gin. All are $6.95.
Kabuki’s Corporate Executive Chef Masa Kurihara comes from the famed Yamashiro. He designed Kabuki’s extensive menu to highlight the importance of melding traditional Japanese cuisine,about 60% of the menu,with contemporary dishes.
There are at least 150 menu items offered every day. In addition to the premium sushi and sashimi selections, signature appetizers include salmon carpaccio with onion vinaigrette and fried soft-shell crab with ponzu sauce at $6.95 per order.
Kabuki’s sushi rolls are available for as low as $2.98, and there are specialty items including scallop butteryaki, ginger shrimp on crispy rice (a must have dish), beef and chicken sukiyaki and bowls of udon (noodles) that come with various meat and seafood additions, all priced from $6.95 to $13.95.
Salmon teriyaki is a specialty entree that’s modern, delicious and healthy. Black cod is marinated in miso, quickly pan-seared and then roasted. It’s served with a suave combo of grilled sweet corn and asparagus. Beef and chicken can be combined for a nice hibachi-cooked dish.
Tempura items are crisp, non-greasy wonders that deliver marvelous vegetable and seafood tastes and a nice variety of textures. For those who love the fun of sharing, there are the festive Japanese “boat” presentations filled with appetizers, tempura, sushi and seasonal fruits. All of these items are in the $12.95 to $15.95 range.
A large variety of sushi and sushi rolls are offered at half-price during both lunch and dinner.
Kabuki: 7801 Edinger Ave. (near Beach Boulevard), Huntington Beach, (714) 898-9239.
Golden Dinner
Golden Truffle in Costa Mesa is hosting a prestigious Winemaker Dinner with Larry Brooks, known as the King of Pinot Noir, this Thursday. Super chef and owner of Golden Truffle, Alan Greeley, has built a signature menu to perfectly match each of the wines.
The evening begins with Jose Dhondt Blanc de Blanc Cru Brut, a cult status sparkling wine that has been described as “gorgeously filled with flavor and character.” A variety of tray-passed hors d’oeuvres will accompany this bubbly wine.
The meal begins with Brooks’ 2005 Topanga Vineyard Celadon Grenache Blanc and chicken kreplach with leek pot-au-feu. Brooks made only 150 cases of this rich, full white Rhone-style wine for Sandy Garber and Ralph Meyer, owners of Topanga Vineyards.
And then, it’s time for the pinot noir wines. Confit of chicken will be served with the 2004 Campion Central Coast Pinot Noir as the wine. Another version of chicken is matched with the 2003 Campion Carneros Pinot Noir. This one is chicken breast served with pinot jus, made with the Campion wine, and mushrooms surrounding the meat.
The 2002 Campion Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir will be paired with Alan’s Limoncello tiramisu for dessert.
Brooks majored in botany with a minor in art history at Rutgers University. He did his graduate work toward a master’s of science in plant pathology at University of California, Davis.
He worked as a partner for several years with Mike Richmond, founder of Acacia Winery. After a couple of decades, he went to work for three years for Chalone Vineyard and founded Echelon Winery for the Chalone group while there.
In 2000, along with a group of investors, he founded Campion so that he could concentrate on making truly great pinots sourced from renowned appellations. He and Mike Richmond are working together again, slowly building up their Amethyst Winery whose vineyards are planted to Italian varietals. Brooks also is a highly sought after winery consultant.
This famous winemaker doesn’t have too much time to personally show up at dinners, so I wouldn’t miss this chance if I were you.
The dinner’s on Thursday at 6 p.m. Price is a modest $68 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations are a must.
Golden Truffle: 1767 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa; Phone (949) 645-9858.
