Missing Matsuhisa

I have to admit, I've been down on Nobu Matsuhisa lately. His La Cienega-based Matsuhisa was a go-to spot for work lunches and dinners over the past few years, but didn't make the list once this year. In part it's due to the opening on Nobu up the street. Maybe it's also because Sushi Park, Sushi Zo and Izakaya by Katsuya all have fresher fish (and better prices at the latter).
So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Nobu featured on Bizzare Foods' Japan episode recently. Zimmern and Nobu stood in the kitchen of his Tokyo restaurant eating a brilliant array of dishes including octopus egg (simmered in a mix of fish stock and soy sauce), sea cucumber eggs (harvested eggs formed into a solid sheet of cucumber egg jerky) and turtle blood shooters (fresh blood mixed with sake).
It renewed my interest in Matsuhisa and reminded me why he was able to create the empire that he has today, with scores of imitators (Katsuya...) around the world. To pay my respects I'm making a reservation for before the end of this year.