Taka Sushi Cafe in Buckhead gets less of my business than I'd prefer. We've got sushi we like closer to home and are creatures of habit. But every time we visit, I am always reminded of what a thoughtful chef owner Taka Moriuchi is, both for his sushi bar creations and his hot food.

Though my visits to Taka the restaurant are too few, I'm able to catch up with Taka the chef through the pleasure of his e-mail newsletter. Restaurateurs increasingly keep in contact with their guests online. An intriguing article in the Los Angeles Times recently documented the coast-to-coast trend of blogging chefs.

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But I'd imagine few have the range and stylistic verve of Moriuchi's weekly update, Sushiandpassion. A typical newsletter starts with a quick discussion of what fish to look for in the sushi bar that week, followed by a wide-ranging listing of anecdotes, fun facts and paraphrased news stories on Moriuchi's favorite subjects — health, wellness, the environment, the crisis of overfishing, the cultural differences between Japanese and Americans and Barry Manilow. Moriuchi does not write perfect English, but he writes with neither reticence nor fear, and that is part of his newsletter's great charm. Poetry, even.

He may, for instance, weigh in on a Swedish study linking an increased rate of suicide to breast implants: "My opinion? Natural and real one is always better than fake even if it is small. I can say same things about fish."

Taka finds American eating habits dismaying. "I saw one of my neighbor. She had a 5 or 6 year's old niece at that time. It was 10 in the morning. She said 'We go to McDonald.' I said 'What? It is in the morning and eat bad food from the beginning of the day.' 'She wants that and she likes that.' 'Oh my God!' "

Eventually Taka concludes: "To build a good person inside (mentally) and outside (physically) we have to eat good food."

Like many thinking people, Taka was skeptical of a sensationalistic story in The New York Times that found high levels of mercury in sushi tuna. "I think American's eat habit more dangerous than mercury. Too many ketchup for fried potato. Too many salt and pepper for everything. Too many wasabi and soy sauce for sushi, sashimi." So frustrated does he become with his guests dousing their edamame and sushi with soy sauce that at one point he hands out paintbrushes to apply the condiment.

He also tries to introduce his clients to healthier foods such as cod ovaries, which he says will make you "think soft brain." If that's too weird, he has Japanese curry, which he claims stimulates blood flow to the brain and increases concentration and powers of calculation. Three weeks after introducing the curry dish, he writes, "I am eating curry everyday except on Sundays. How do I feel? Great. How is my brain? Not bad. How was my golf game yesterday? It was same as usual."

On other weeks, he decides to make his sushi with whole-grain "hybrid rice" or a special vinegar that turns it pink.

Moriuchi began sending out his newsletter in 2000 while, as sushi chef at Bluepointe, he started Taka's Tuna Club — a way for regular customers to keep up with the availability of the choice tuna belly called "toro." Since 1997, he has also published the monthly Japanese-language newspaper Axis Atlanta for the expat community, so it was second nature for him to outfit the tuna supply news with the kinds of trends and tidbits that readers like.

While he sometimes gets flak for his opinionated editorial content, he tells readers, "Some might think I discriminate, but it's just one opinion. There are many answers, and that's fine."

Exasperated by the slow response to the California wildfires of October, he writes, "I just wonder why Pentagon don't use their military power for wildfire. Just bring a lot of seawater and drop there. How many military airplane do they have? Or they just know killing someone. I have no idea."

He tells customers to ditch the flapping University of Georgia flags on their cars to save energy. "Think of aerodynamics. ... They are wasting money and making more CO2."

But he also has a sense of humor about current events. On Jan. 22 he noted: "It is a bad day for stock market but is a great day for sushi lover. Uni is available. Long time no see!"

It almost make me want to drop everything and forget my disappearing 401(K) with a mouthful of sea urchin roe.

And while some chefs skip out of town without warning their customers, Taka gives plenty of notice. When Manilow was first scheduled to play Philips Arena in early January, he writes, "I, Taka is not working on the Saturday because of him. I need to say 'Thank you, Mr. Manilow for encouraging me.' He gave me this, 'You can give in, give out. But don't give up.' We cannot give up our life, right. Our oldest customer is maybe 87 or 88 year's old Jewish lady. She comes with her friends and they are almost same age. They eat sashimi, sushi and look pretty much healthy. I encourage them and they encourage me."

Reading Taka's newsletter is a constant encouragement. Many chefs bring pleasure to their guests by cooking for them. A special few, like Taka, want to see them evolve into better people.

Learn more

Taka Sushi Cafe is at 385 Pharr Road, 404-869-2802. To subscribe to Taka's newsletter, you must join his Yahoo group, called Sushiandpassion by going to Yahoo.com.