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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Shin Sushi Secures Start in Michelin Guide

The San Fernando Valley boasts a terrific and expansive sushi scene, but one restaurant has been awarded a particularly prestigious honor. Shin Sushi, tucked in the back corner of an unassuming strip mall on Ventura Boulevard in Encino, was awarded one star in the new all-California Michelin Guide, the state’s first ever. The Michelin Guide is an annual report of a region’s top restaurants compiled by French tire manufacturer Michelin. Stars are considered hallmarks of fine dining and are among the highest accolades a restaurant can earn. Michelin stopped inspecting Los Angeles restaurants in 2009 but returned to the Golden State this year thanks to a $600,000 donation from travel agency Visit California. Shin Sushi is the San Fernando Valley’s only restaurant to win a Michelin star in 2019. At just a year old, this is the restaurant’s first appearance on any Michelin list. “It’s a great honor,” said Taketoshi Azumi, Shin Sushi’s founder and head chef. “I’m very proud.” The art of sushi is coded into Azumi’s bloodline. His father was the founder and head chef of the original “Sushi Shin” in Tokyo. Azumi wanted to follow this path since childhood and moved to the United States to pursue his craft. He ultimately landed positions at Mori Sushi in West L.A. and Sushi of Gari, formerly in Hollywood, where he trained for four and two years under acclaimed chefs Morihiro Onodera and Masatoshi “Gari” Sugio, respectively. “I learned a lot about fish and food from them. Chef Morihiro, he has a strong passion,” said Azumi. He opened Shin Sushi in June 2018, with its name as a tribute to his late father. Azumi said winning a Michelin star will expose his restaurant to a new customer base and hopefully spur interest in the traditional Japanese style of sushi he works in. Shin Sushi’s affordability relative to other sushi restaurants of the same pedigree is a major attraction. The omakase (a chef’s-choice tasting menu) starts at a reasonable $80 and no individual plates cost more than $22.50, including chirashi bowls, sashimi plates, sushi rolls and nigiri by the piece. The menu includes bluefin and yellowtail tuna, Japanese mackerel, Santa Barbara sea urchin, ikura, or fish eggs, anago, or salt-water eel, and more all hand-selected by Azumi from the fish market each morning. Valley eateries fared slightly better on Michelin’s Bib Gourmand list, which recognizes exceptional restaurants where customers can dine for less than $40. Adana Restaurant, a middle eastern spot on San Fernando Road in Glendale, made the list, as did the Hollywood location of Katsu-ya, a sushi restaurant with sister locations in Woodland Hills, Northridge, Studio City and Encino.

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