When I wrote my mantra for Two-Sided Southern it was “for people who love Waffle House as much as Umi.” That’s because to me, Waffle House is quintessentially Southern, down home dining. While Umi is at the pinnacle of the other end of the spectrum. Umi is arguably the best fine dining restaurant, and definitely the best sushi restaurant, in Atlanta. Here, a few things I learned while eating there that prove my point:
“When the rice is perfect, you can taste each individual grain. It’s not a glob like grocery store sushi. Our rice is made with salt and red wine vinegar indigenous to Japan. Most sushi rice is vinegar, rice and sugar. But not ours. We leave out the sugar.”
“Rice is how you can tell the best sushi. Not from the fish. From the rice.”
“My cousin studied under a sushi master in Japan. He just worked on rice for seven years. That was before he was even allowed to touch fish.”
“The Wagyu comes from cows raised in a small Southern coastal town in Japan. The cows probably eat better than you and me.”
“This uni comes from the coldest Northern waters of Japan. That’s where the seafood is the freshest in the world.”
“The duck braised in Wagyu beef fat is smoked here. It’s also off-menu. You have to know to order it.”
“The super fatty tuna sliced from a fish that went for $3.2 million at auction. It was flown in from Japan.”
“Soy mixed with butter is a popular flavor combination in Japan. French fries, potato chips… they fry them in soy butter.”
“Our fermented cheese is made from sake. Did you know that cheese could come from fermented alcohol?”
“Yeah, artist Shanequa Gay and owner Farshid Arshid dreamed this art installation up as a way to creatively enforce the social distancing requirements for restaurants.”
Recently, I had these few snippets of conversation with the servers and staff while at Umi in Buckhead for dinner. Most of my new found knowledge came from Taka Shigematsu who also taught me we were eating Edomae-style sushi. This style of sushi involves treating the fish with some sort of cooking or curing element. In the strictest interpretations, the fish must also come from Tokyo Bay.”
We sat at the bar (only about 8 seats) for the omakase experience (aka the Umi-kase) and also to get an up close view of the magnificent art work on display. Peppered around the dining room are Gay’s remarkable mannequins with sculptural bull heads. But, at the bar, they sit right next to you. So you can get an up close view. She is a talented Black, female artist in Atlanta and friends with one of my favorite people: Alex Delotch Davis, who runs Gallerie 88. They both are regulars at this, the best sushi restaurant in Atlanta.
If you’re giving yourself over to the omakase experience ($145-$180 and up per person), I strongly suggest sitting at the sushi bar so you can see what chef is doing and get a feel for the beauty and artisanship of his work. One of the best sushi experiences I’ve had was sitting at the bar at Kenzo in Napa and I will probably never sit at a table again in a sushi restaurant if I can help it.
And yes, I keep saying “sushi experience,” because that’s exactly what it is. Everything about this fine dining Buckhead restaurant has been strategically thought out. It’s all to make it a sophisticated immersion for the guest. And all those things I learned above were because the staff took time to share their incredible knowledge and educate me while they presented each dish with pride. They went the extra mile to let us know we were trying something exceptional. Something out of the ordinary. It’s what makes them the best sushi restaurant in Atlanta.
It’s an off-menu dish to ask for.
The server forks the leg (on the left) for you and it ends up looking like shredded barbecue when done.
I’ve known Farshid since Umi opened. He has been running the best game in town for eight or nine years now. However, everything still felt so new and fresh. The food was exciting. The dining room was electric and filled with interesting people. The drinks were ridiculously tasty and handcrafted. The bartender took the time to explain all the flavors he pieced together. The photography on the wall had all changed to Gay’s work. The biggest tell that he is an incredible restaurateur? The waiting list for a reservation is still three weeks out.
Beyond that, he is one of the kindest most generous people I know. He protects his staff and his vision fiercely. So it occurred to me: He is an artist in his own right for creating this beautiful place of excellence and then keeping it thriving during a pandemic. He has come through this year on the other side with more creativity and ingenuity than I even realized.
So if I’m making you very hungry and you’re planning on trying to pop in tomorrow night or this weekend—call ahead first. Make a reservation and then book that babysitter for three weeks from now.
