What is Omakase and why it is an experience to try
An unparalleled tasting, where you can completely entrust yourself to the chef's hands. Here's what omakase is and where to try it.
Trust is a feeling with which, in complete safety and tranquillity, we confide in the abilities of others by entrusting oneself totally and without hesitation. This is the essential premise when you decide to try the Omakase experience: a tasting menu where everything is in the hands of the chef who, for a few hours, decides the culinary fate of the diners who sit in front of his counter.
The literal translation of the word is in fact " I trust you " and in Japan, sushi lovers exclaim it as soon as they sit in traditional sushi bars. Places where there are no predefined menus and often, to enter, it is necessary to be introduced by some regulars. This is because the Omakase ritual is an experience based on the direct relationship between chef and guests, sitting in the front row watching every movement of the sushi master, breathing in the scents coming from the sumibiyaki grill.
The Omakase ritual
Traditionally, there are no predefined menus for Omakase and the selection of courses can also change daily, based on the availability of raw materials. At IYO Omakase, opened in 2019 in Milan by entrepreneur Claudio Liu, only 7 guests can be accommodated at a time, immersing yourself in a ritual that follows the Edomae style, typical of Tokyo and focused on the freshest catch of the day.
Chef Masashi Suzuki first starts with a welcome (called sakizuke), and then moves on to tastings called zensai, a selection of sashimi, a soup and a fish dish. The nigiri are served individually, ranging from those with the most delicate flavours to the most daring, and then ending with the dessert, the tea ceremony and a final toast with the typical fermented drinks and Japanese distillates.
The tasting room has large windows from which you can see the skyline of Milan, with the sunlight gradually giving way to the evening. The counter becomes a stage, where the chef indulges in delicate and harmonious movements, following a sweet dance, to the rhythm of the music produced by the ingredients and work tools. Like the fish, crossed by metal rods that end up on the grill or the moeche that, when it's in season, sizzle in the oil and break the solemn silence of the diners seated at the counter. Each chef has his own style, and the Iyo Omakase sushi master loves to alternate moments of storytelling with others of reflection, to allow everyone to fully enjoy the experience.
Together with the Masashi dishes, it is possible to choose a wine or sake tasting to understand the different nuances of fermented rice, guided by the expert sommelier Vanessa Simini.
Omakase dishes
Among the dishes to taste at dinner, the luckiest ones will be able to try the sashimi served without soy sauce with seared sea bream lightly on the charcoal (skin side only), with a pleasant smoky note, accompanied by a dashi broth with kombu seaweed. This is followed by white grouper matured for a week and served shabu shabu style, blanched in sudachi juice broth, with maldon salt and salt-fermented umeboshi.
A hand-lacquered Japanese cup hides a green seaweed broth with steamed turbot marinated in koji, courgette flowers stuffed with minced shrimp and mushrooms, all scented with yuzu zest. Alaskan carbonara marinated in rice, served with stir-fried edamame and sesame oil, is among the must-haves and introduces a brilliant set of nigiri.
Masashi Suzuki to make them he wets his hands, lays the rice with a light touch on the fish and with two clear movements manages to shape a perfect shape, almost like a mould, placing the sushi on a wooden cutting board. The nigiri is completed with the sauce and is ready to be tasted by the diner, strictly with the hands. Among the signatures is the one with aubergines and clams, followed by the combination of cuttlefish and caviar, scampi and Mazara red prawn tartare, and lightly seared red mullet. Also notable are the tuna temaki and the one with eel, marinated ginger and spring onions.
The tasting ends with rice ice cream with fruit and azuki, followed by the solemn ritual of cha no yu to drink matcha tea and then toast with shochu and umeshu together with the chef, sealing the conclusion of the experience.
Minamo, the Omakase from Lucerne
In the elegant Swiss city of Lucerne, lovers of Japanese cuisine have had an exclusive address at their disposal for a few months now. We are talking about the Omakase counter in Minamo, a restaurant inside the Mandarin Oriental Palace Lucerne, where chef Toshiro Lützel offers his idea of a menu for eight diners at a time. Here too, the combination with a selection of sake is recommended, even if there is also a wide selection of international wines and, for lovers of spirits, even fine Japanese whiskeys. The menu opens with chawanmushi, a typical Japanese pudding served here with egg yolks and shiitake mushrooms, both in slices and in consommé. This is followed by a broth of albacore (bonito fish) with fried tofu, grilled eggplant with miso, braised kombu and sansho leaves, a typical Japanese pepper.
The amberjack tartare is precious, seasoned with mayonnaise, chives, caviar, gold leaf and shiso flowers (a sort of Japanese basil). The nigiri served by Toshiro are a succession of Swiss salmon, purple shrimp and eel with teriyaki sauce, dressed alternately with soy sauce aged for 2 or 4 years. The beef leaves its mark accompanied by grilled white asparagus and sesame sauce, followed by two special desserts, one of which is made with Yamazaki 12 year old single malt whiskey ice cream, with pecan nuts and a spectacular maple leaf decoration.
A completely different Omakase from the Milanese one, supported by a good rhythm and a punctual explanation of each step by the master chef. A place not to be missed for those passing through Lucerne and want to travel for a few hours in authentic Japanese gastronomy.
