Going big at Katana...

Bacon wrapped shrimp and filet mignon with asparagus, Katana...

One of the great treasures of Katana is its versatility. There are sushi restaurants and then there is Katana, which reminds us is also a robata grill. The appetizers were strong. Note the bacon-wrapped shrimp at the top of the photo followed by the filet mignon wrapping around asparagus.

Little was going to affect me this night, anyway, since I was eating outside in January. My needs are small...

The Katana Experience

Two pieces of Spanish Mackerel nigiri...
Class is a concept difficult to avoid. It permeates the entire culture. In gastronomic terms, it is easy, then to dismiss a restaurant strictly by its decor. A poorly or shabbily designed restaurant might house some of the best food in town. Back in San Francisco, circa 1992 or '93, my uncle Steve resisted our insistence on the House of Nanking. It was crowded. It didn't look particularly clean. Nothing, from the creaky wooden tables to the spartan counter tops to the dingy, laminated menus invited customers to enter.
Yet, each night, a line formed around the block while neighboring Chinese restaurants were empty.
Uncle Steve relented, and twenty years later, still talks about the Great House of Nanking...
Katana has no such problem. It is majestic. It is grand. It is in West Hollywood. The outdoor seating with its couches and heat lamps are movie-star stylish. Inside is dark and sultry. Katana belongs to The Beautiful People.

Katana, West Hollywood

LOS ANGELES -- To protect the innocent, I will not name names. I will not offer clues. On the souls of my unborn grandchildren, I will not be the one who breaks the peace we have formed today.

I needed to be redeemed. It has been nearly 11 years since I left California for good, eleven years of weeping and nostalgia, for the Flatiron in San Rafael with the Marin County boys, eleven years of plotting, planning and ultimately failing to get back to the Bay (see: prices, housing for details), eleven years of no Mexican and inferior sushi.

Rules were introduced to temper the disappointment. Take, for example the New Year's Resolution list of 2011:

1) To say "no" early, often and with conviction.

2) To only eat sushi in Approved Sushi Zones

3) I forgot the third.

The "Approved Sushi Zone" consists of the entire West Coast (Vancouver to San Diego), plus proven East Coast favorites:
Boston (Oishii Boston http://www.oishiiboston.com), Fugakyu (www.fugakyu.net) and, in a pinch, Samurai (www.samurai-boston.com)

New York Nobu and Nobu 57, plus, in a pinch, Koi (www.koirestaurant.com)

I held to that resolution, both in fact ("No!" See? And that was with feeling!) which made it important to replace a disappointing sushi experience with an excellent one.

The excellent one was Katana (katanarobata.com, 8439 W. Sunset Blvd @ La Cienega). Katana is part of the IDG group, owners of such solid favorites as Sushi Roku and the steakhouse BOA (where on my last visit, Smokey Robinson dined behind me). Katana was recommended and it delivered. Big time.