Shabu Test Kitchen. Possible Happy Hour Appetizers?!

OK, so shabu-shabu can get a little monotonous in the kitchen, so of course what else do we do, but start our own little Cal Shabu Test Kitchen. We have limited cooking utensils, but its almost jailhouse style culinary cuisine… but way better I’m sure… Check these out…
Our first attempt at sushi rolls… Salmon, teriyaki, green onions, Sriracha and a bunch of other things! Not Bad for a first attempt, but we’re not a sushi restaurant. So lets see what else we can come up with…

Baked Salmon Skin Rolls with pink garlic, Japanese mayo, spicy teriyaki and homemade salmon poke. Yummy!!!! But still its sushi… haha.. back to the test kitchen…

So we thought maybe we should try a beef dish, so we sliced up some jalapenos, made some cheater sushi rice, marinated onions in shichimi and chili oil, added a small flamed piece of rib eye, a little mayo, sriracha, and julienned spinach and carrots. Not bad! But for some reason we were still obsessed with the salmon…

Slice of cucumber, sushi rice ball with a seared piece of salmon, seasoned with our own house shichimi togarashi and a splash of spicy teriyaki. Now I’m getting hungry! Last but not least, one more salmon tester… Amazing!

And on that note, I’m going to make some appetizers right now! Email us if you think we should start trying some of these in the restaurant. Cheers!!

New Art!! Fairey Prints and more coming!!

 

Sorry some of the prints are still wrapped up. We’re trying to figure out what we’re going to do on the hood exterior. Its kind of a big canvas.

Found these prints on one of my favorite sites FAB, and decided to have them lacquered instead of traditional frame. They turned out amazing! So far New York and Tokyo are done, LA and London are coming next!

So the final product turned out halfway decent!

After a few awkwardly printed shirts, we finally came out with something kinda ok.

Purple, Charcoal, and our kinda version of pink.

Teal & Purple.

The crew.

Omaka Springs and Kaiken: Our new Sauvignon Blanc and Malbec!

So, we’re not just beer and sake lovers, but we know we have an obligation to our wine loving crowd as well. These are the first additions to our wine list. We’ve been solicited by so many wine distributors and manufacturers, but almost every time, we’re met with a lackluster tasting, and nothing of significant impression.

This time around was a bit different. Fred, one of our newest wine reps is actually a Level 3 sommelier, so we took his advice, and tried what he pulled out of his little travel tote bag. The standouts amongst the contenders were the Omaka Estates Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and the Kaiken Malbec from Argentina.

The Omaka was an unexpected white. A little fuller than what we’d expect a sauv blanc to be, but thats part of the beauty of it. Easy to drink, but with a bit of complexity which makes each sip that much more enjoyable. This wine is actually not 100% sauv banc, but blended with 6.2% Semillon which is a relatively new grape varietal in the New Zealand wine region, but has long been used by California winemakers to blend into the sauv blancs. Yum!

Onto the Kaiken Malbec, which is an amazingly drinkable yet velvety wine. Strong blackberry notes and not too much acidity. This pairs so well with shabu. We felt very strongly that we should be trying to introduce new and unconventional wines to pair with shabu dining. Wine is such a compliment to food, and can truly elevate the dining experience. Asian food however, are so often overlooked for wine pairings. The Kaiken with the beef, simply delivers!