Watching pristine slices of raw Japanese sushi-grade fish sizzling under a high-powered brûlée torch at Sushi by Scratch in Healdsburg is either squeal-producing entertainment or an oceanic horror show.
I’m somewhere between the two camps, amused and aghast at the same time as three inches of concentrated blue flame scorch tiny blisters onto wild-caught escolar.
An A-list celebrity favorite, Sushi By Scratch is a growing empire of 10-seat sushi speakeasies offering a carefully choreographed meal that’s both interactive theater and 13-course omakase. An outpost of the Los Angeles-based restaurant chain opened a permanent space inside The Matheson restaurant last January to effusive reviews. But is it all it’s cracked up to be?
At $185 per person, it’s an investment, not an everyday adventure. The two-hour pageant of luxurious imported fish and overwrought ingredients — not to mention the kitchen torch — plays out one piece of nigiri at a time. Rice is shaped by hand, topped with thin slices of raw fish and often cringe-inducing additions like corn pudding, serrano chile or chimichurri, and ceremoniously handed to each guest sitting around a U-shaped bar.
It’s cool, for sure, sitting in a darkened room with just a handful of other guests eating bespoke bites adorned with freshly grated wasabi, dashi reductions and pickled tidbits to cleanse the palate. Petite brushes paint delicate lines of aged soy sauce or yuzu while tiny pots of salt stand ready for careful sprinkling.
I have no qualms about the Hokkaido scallops — sweet, tender and only mildly tarted up with a bit of uni and trendy salts. The uni, imported from Japan, was like butter.
But I can’t help but wonder, why all the food theatrics? Why not just let expensive imported fish like akamutsu (a deep-sea, cold-water fish) or akami shine like the jewels they are? Why is a cut of A5 Japanese Wagyu torched onto sushi rice? And, while I love bone marrow, is it really nigiri?
The frequent torch moments left me cold. Go ahead and reduce cheap, gassed-up grocery store salmon cinders if you must, but what did that poor wild-caught escolar ever do to you, chef?
Sushi by Scratch is both fun and delicious for a certain audience (my compatriots loved it) and the staff are charming. But in Sonoma County, ingredients like flavored salts, yuzu, aged soy sauce and fresh wasabi aren’t jaw-dropping to any regular fine diner. Good and even great sushi is readily available here.
Omakase means the “chef’s choice” of what’s the best, freshest fish at the moment — but Sushi By Scratch offers a fairly standardized menu that doesn’t seem to have much variation by day, week or season.
Maybe I’m a snob, since any sort of nigiri or roll with ingredients like fried onions, mango sauce or mayonnaise screams “cheap, gassed fish” louder than a tantrum-throwing toddler. Don’t even get me started on why spicy tuna rolls should be avoided at all costs.
In the end, I’d still return to Sushi By Scratch, with more managed expectations of a cooking show rather than Japanese omakase, but I’ll probably hit up some other local favorites first.
Reservations are required with a $25 per person deposit and an automatic 20% service charge for seatings at 4 p.m., 6:15 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
Sushi By Scratch (inside The Matheson), 106 Matheson St., Healdsburg. 707-579-7916, sushibyscratchrestaurants.com