Course No. 1 Ara with dashi ponzu, Japanese lime and mint flowers
And how the success of the 20-course, $200 dinners in Willoughby paved the way for his upcoming new restaurant in Ohio CityThe first time I heard about Issho Ni was when a friend raved about the ramen at this strip-mall sushi restaurant in Willoughby. Always eager to sample – and spread the word about – great food, I visited back in 2020. Indeed, the ramen was so exceptional that I penned an article in Scene urging others to make the trip. That story was published three days before Gov.
Most Cleveland restaurants rely on a local fish wholesaler for their seafood needs. These suppliers regularly import product from New York, Boston, L.A. and even Japan. But that system isn’t good enough for Jonathan. “It was very hard for me to find a job, so I had a dream that someday I would open up a restaurant so I can help other people that are in the same situation as me,” he says.
Up until this point in the meal, the courses have been otsumami, or small plates, served in bowls with sauce, which require chopsticks. But for the nigiri portion of the omakase, the chefs set down a single piece of sushi in front of each diner. A ceramic plate – called the geta – sits on the raised wooden ledge that rings the sushi bar. While the natural tendency is to want to move the plate down to counter level, the chef tells us simply to take the sushi and leave the plate.
In September of 2019, Jonathan and his wife opened Issho Ni, which translates to “togetherness.” For two months, the new owners operated the hibachi tables in the second dining room – Jonathan’s prior teppanyaki experience came in handy – but they soon extinguished the tabletop grills to focus their attention on ramen and sushi.“This is the wagyu of the sea!” says Jonathan.
“I always tell my customers that fresh fish isn’t always the best; it depends on your purpose,” says Endrian. “If it’s white fish for sashimi, then yes, the fresher the better because the texture is more bouncy and chewy. But certain kinds of fish, when it’s super-fresh, it is super-chewy.”“This is one of my favorite fish, all the time!” Jonathan announces with delight.
Just as one must learn to walk before he or she can run, many Issho Ni customers have progressed from eating only cooked foods and California rolls to enjoying lightly seared nigiri. Others make the leap to raw sashimi and sushi. And still others are so eager to sample new items that they reserve a spot at an upcoming omakase.“You have to know where the best eel is coming from,” says Kwan. “The best eel comes from Nagasaki.
“If you’ve seen their place in Willoughby, it doesn’t look like the kind of place you’re going to go and drop a couple hundred bucks on a meal,” Viny admits. In contrast to the intimate and lavish sushi bar upstairs, Issho Ni Izakaya will be a high-energy restaurant serving creative foods alongside plenty of beer and sake.The 50-seat restaurant will serve small plates, grilled skewers and interactive dishes that might involve tabletop cooking.
Diners can expect to find a world-class omakase experience that features rare, exotic and seasonal fish. Unlike the contemporary style that is presented in Willoughby, the new omakase will be more along the lines of a Tokyo-style omakase, which leans on tradition and technique over creativity.
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