Umi
3050 Peachtree Road, Atlanta. 404-841-0040, umiatlanta.com.
Fuyuhiko Ito, a sushi chef from the late, lamented MF Buckhead, has resurfaced in this stunning new restaurant. Owners Farshid Arshid and Charlie Hendon have created a beautiful space, with distressed white oak flooring offsetting the glossy coal blackness of charred cypress walls.
Ito is, at heart, an old-school sushi chef, a guy who makes it his business to know how to shop for, store, cut and bundle fresh raw fish with seasoned rice.
He is a master of nigiri-sushi — the greatest one-bite wonder of world gastronomy. He will pull out a fillet of ma-aji and balance it on his index finger to show you the firmness and give of the flesh. It’s at the perfect age, he says, after a day in the cooler. Old enough to develop umami richness, not yet so old that the flesh softens and the flavor coarsens.
If you’re not a fan of mirugai (aka geoduck, the giant clam) because it’s been too texturally close to Orbit gum, then try Ito’s. He knows how to cut ruffle-edged slivers that your teeth slide right through.
Save room for the green tea soufflé prepared by Lisa Ito, the chef’s wife, who runs the kitchen.
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