I thought I had seen everything there was to see in my life. And yet I recently attended a whole new kind of show. A two-hour show where three chefs perform like in a hyperactive samurai ballet. They serve a 17-course omakase meal (a sushi menu tailored to the chef’s taste) to an audience of just 10 people. For me this was unprecedented!
We were five couples hiding in a room at the back of the Stillife bar to inaugurate the very first bite, the very first service, on the first day of the opening of the Sushi by Scratch restaurant. A dream evening enjoying the talent of the chefs and enjoying fish and shellfish transported by plane from Toyosu Market twice a week. fantastic ingredients prepared during an intimate, polished performance.
Photo courtesy of Alexandra Diaz
Part of the 17-course menu offered on site.
First service at 5 p.m.
i love everything in the morning Everything, everything, everything. The silence. Watch the sun rise. Take an hour to practice in the basement. I drink my hot coffee with lots of foam in small sips. Wait for the appetite to come. No lyrics. At 5 a.m. I still don’t feel like two boiled eggs. Saying all that, it’s because at Sushi by Scratch I have the best of both worlds: I can wake up at the crack of dawn, feel like I’ve gone out to enjoy a delicious dinner, and see the evening through. while clubbing – without I sacrifice my sleep! That’s the appeal of the 5 p.m. service. I ate like a queen, drank rarities, drank and got home before Cinderella. my perfect evening
Photo courtesy of Alexandra Diaz
Chef Julian presents the sea urchins.
A flawless experience worth its weight in gold
We understand that post-pandemic dining out is not as accessible as it was before. But for a complete and memorable outing, the price of such a major event is as high as the price of a ticket for a front-row seat to a concert at the Bell Centre. I tried the exact same Michelin-starred menu at Sushi by Scratch in Montecito, California, but here in Montreal.
I felt reconnected with the great Saba fish I had tasted in Vancouver as I watched the menu on the blackboard behind the three chefs with keen interest. Another key moment of the surprise menu: a marrow paste that the chef burns with a torch and pours over a sushi. A delirium for the senses.
Photo courtesy of Alexandra Diaz
The cook burns a marrow bone.
Three food-alcohol pairings are possible: whiskey, cocktails, and sake. I chose sake because of the presence of the apprentice “Sake Samurai”: a sake sommelier in training who will receive his title in maybe twenty years due to the sake shortage in our country. There are only three samurai sake in the country, and Japan only recognizes five per year worldwide.
Photo courtesy of Alexandra Diaz
Matcha green tea ice cream (the 17th course).
I’m delighted that co-owners of chefs Frankland Lee and Victoria Kallas have chosen Montreal to be the group’s first restaurant outside of the United States. Welcome to our home !