Ten Years Washing Rice: The Long Apprenticeship

The path from the sink to the cutting board is longer at a sushi counter than anywhere else in the kitchen. It sounds like a small thing until you have sat at the counter a few times, and then it is most of what you remember.

The season on the board

A counter that buys from the market every morning changes its menu with the water temperature. Spring brings sakura-dai and firefly squid, summer the oily aji and hamo, winter buri and the richest tuna of the year.

Small counters, small numbers

Many of the best counters seat eight or ten and serve one or two sittings a night. That is what lets the chef make every piece to order and watch each guest eat it. It is also why the reservation is the hardest part of the meal.

If there is a counter you think we should sit at next, write and tell us -- the best suggestions become the next visit.