Sushi moves to midtown
Sushi Chef Daniel Lee stands behind the counter in his newly opened Sushi Cafe on Zelda Road. / Photos by Mickey Welsh
Written by Teri Greene
Chef Daniel Lee's cafe in Zelda Place isn't the kind of Japanese restaurant Montgomery diners have come to expect.
There are no knife-wielding hibachi chefs/showmen performing their craft amid sudden bursts of flames and a crowd of applauding admirers.
Sushi Cafe, Lee's new restaurant in Zelda Place, is more of a soothing Asian oasis. Sure, hibachi items are on the menu, but that kitchen is in the back, unseen.
The name says it all. Sushi is front and center.
Sushi is Lee's specialty, after all. While he was growing up in South Korea, it was a favorite of his and his family. When he came to the U.S. 21 years ago, he settled in Dayton, Ohio, and began working on the hibachi side of a Japanese restaurant there.
But then he changed direction, pouring his concentration into sushi. He learned the craft from a sushi mentor before opening his own sushi restaurant in Dayton, which he ran for seven years.
When Lee's sister-in-law got a job at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing in Montgomery, he moved south to be nearer to family.
Learning of his plans to relocate to Alabama, his Ohio diners and fellow chefs joked with him, believing a sushi restaurant could never gain fans in the Deep South, which they saw as a region made up of meat-and-potato eaters.
"A lot of people asked, 'Why are you going there? Are you going to be making cow or beef sushi?'" Lee said.
But Lee knew better. By the time he arrived here, the Japanese steakhouse/sushi scene was already burgeoning, and now the Montgomery area boasts more than half a dozen of these restaurants. Sushi is even a mainstay behind chilled counters in grocery stores.
Before opening his own place locally, Lee was sushi chef for five years at Miyako Japanese Steak and Sushi in east Montgomery. He knew that when the time came, he would set out on his own.
With his own take on Americanized, "fusion" sushi, he also knew he could win people over, even those who preferred their fish deep fried with a side of hushpuppies and coleslaw.
Ancient dish: new take
If some local first-time sushi diners at Sushi Café are hesitant, Lee said, it's probably because they expect the food on the plate in front of them to consist mainly of "raw fish."
This is a belief he wants to knock down immediately, if not with words, then with food.
First off, the uncooked seafood, when served by itself, has a name of its own -- sashimi -- one of many special designations within the world of sushi.
More often than not, the fish is incorporated into meticulously crafted rolls or other specialty items. By the time the seafood reaches the plate, it has been marinated at length, eventually changing it from raw into a new state; something like cooked, but requiring no heat.
And certainly not tasting like anything that's just been plucked from the water.
"People think that sushi is raw and the taste is going to be 'raw fish.' Fish itself has a 'fish' taste. But we've marinated it -- the sauce and the rice reduce that, and when the fish can get into the ginger, the wasabi sauce and soy sauce -- there isn't any fish taste at all," he said.
Among the fish and other seafood (an increasing amount of it brought in from the Gulf of Mexico) included in the entrees are white tuna, salmon, yellow tail, shrimp, flounder, snapper and grouper.
And there's another thing you need to know, Lee said: Sushi encompasses a much broader range of food than its reputation suggests as some dishes include nothing but cooked food.
Take the "Daniel roll," named after the chef himself. It is tempura (meaning battered and deep fried) fish, shrimp and scallops all cooked, not raw and seasoned with Lee's own spicy sauces.
Other types of sushi are chock-full of nothing but rice and fresh vegetables.
Another Sushi Cafe specialty is the bento box, a neat little lunchtime boxed layout of items such as tempura, fried rice, a California roll and teriyaki chicken, teriyaki beef, shrimp or salmon.
A surprising ambience
Lee had a vision of the look and feel of his restaurant and knew he could make it a reality, even with the seemingly sparse, elongated space with which he was working.
He brought in an architect/designer who specializes in creating a specific authentic, modern ambience to Japanese restaurants.
The roomy booths running up the left side of the room are upholstered in dark red and flanked by black and white Tatami lamps. There's additional seating at the bar, which displays the fresh seafood, enclosed by glass, with which Lee and his employees are working with each day. There is also a small area up front that can accommodate about eight diners.
All of this under a high, black ceiling with touches such as a fabric screen entrance and modern pendant lights.
From the outside, visitors would never guess what they'll find beyond his storefront. It's nestled into a strip-business row and the former home of a sandwich shop not known for its spaciousness, let alone elegance.
"People come in and say, 'Wow, I can't believe it," he said of the transformation.
WANT TO GO?
WHAT
Sushi Cafe
WHERE
3004 Zelda Road (to the left of Zoe's Kitchen)
PHONE
819-7060
HOURS
11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mon day through Saturday
PRICES
$10-$30
INFORMATION
The restaurant accepts all major credit cards and takes reservations, but walk-ins are welcome and take-out is available
PHOTOS:
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps...tegori=LIFESTYLE&Lopenr=104120807&Ref=PH
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