|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
You won’t find trendy ingredients like blowtorched wagyu or caviar at the Peninsula’s newest omakase spot. Instead, you’ll find masterfully marinated hikarimono (silver-skinned fish), akami (bluefin tuna) and even dry-aged fish using a custom-made himuro, a piece of equipment utilizing a traditional method of refrigeration that brings out the umami in the fish.
“Simplicity, elegance, minimalism, is what (chef Tomonori Nagai is) pursuing,” said Sunny Noah, co-owner and senior consultant at Nagai Edomae Sushi, which opened Oct. 2 in downtown Redwood City. His previous experience includes Michelin-starred Chez TJ, Omakase SF and Sushi Yoshizumi as well as three-starred Benu.
The team behind Nagai Edomae Sushi is star-studded – chef-owner Nagai previously worked at Michelin-starred Sushi Kanesaka in Tokyo and Shinji in Singapore, and co-owner and general manager Kim Quach worked at Chez TJ, Manresa, Omakase SF, Bird Dog and Selby’s.
But despite all their Michelin experience, the team isn’t aiming for stars – their goal is to provide a wholly traditional and authentic edomae sushi experience highlighting Nagai’s techniques and mastery of marination, the most important facet of edomae sushi. Unlike other omakase restaurants, Nagai Edomae Sushi does not utilize fusion techniques or trending ingredients.
“People think sushi is like a California roll,” Nagai said. “Sushi is Japanese culture, food culture. I want to protect (it), and I want to teach other generations about traditional sushi.”
Nagai Edomae Sushi offers two reservation-only seatings per night, Wednesday through Sunday, with a cap of eight diners per seating. Omakase translates to “I leave it up to you” or “to entrust,” so the menu is prix fixe and the amount of courses is variable – the current menu includes six appetizers, 10 nigiri, plus miso and dessert. The restaurant is unable to accommodate gluten-free or vegetarian diets.
The meal is $270 per person, increasing to $292.50 upon its grand opening on Dec. 11. Even with its future price increase, Nagai Edomae Sushi is less expensive than the two other Peninsula edomae omakases, Sushi Shin and Sushi Yoshizumi.
Nagai’s sushi style is heavily influenced by the sushi culture of Tokyo in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, said Noah, when edomae sushi, a style of preserved sushi that arose in the Edo period (1603-1868), had a resurgence in popularity. Made with seafood and ingredients found in and near the Tokyo Bay, edomae sushi emerged as a way to allow merchants to carry sushi with them as they attended to business. To preserve the fish, marination was essential, using a combination of salt, vinegar and kombu (sea kelp), which creates edomae’s distinctive flavor.
“All the ingredients that (Nagai) uses can be traced back to hundreds of years ago,” Noah said.
In terms of appetizers, don’t expect a fancy kaiseki-style plate. Instead, Nagai prepares a simple dish rooted in seasonality.
“We are just doing the appetizer in a traditional Japanese way to celebrate the season and to invite the guests to feel the beauty of each individual season,” Noah said. “Each distinct season has its own specific ingredient, specific interpretation.”
Mastering edomae sushi
For nigiri, one of Nagai’s specialties is hikarimono, or silver-skinned fish, which is small, shiny and oily. What differentiates Nagai’s preparation of hikarimono is his expert use of marination, Noah said, creating the perfect equilibrium of salt and vinegar, a technique difficult for many sushi chefs to master.
“If (hikarimono is) mishandled or prepared improperly, it smells really fishy,” Noah said. “However, if the quality (of the fish) is good, and then the technique is just perfect, then the combination will bring out the most umami and unique taste of that edomae sushi.”
Nagai sources bluefin tuna, known as the “black diamond” of tuna for its rare and expensive nature, from Aomori and Nagasaki in Japan and uses a secret preparation for akami, the back muscle of bluefin tuna.
“So far, no such preparation (in the Bay Area) has existed, as far as I know,” Noah said, declining to divulge additional information on the preparation.
Another of Nagai’s specialties is his ability to use a himuro, an ancient refrigeration and dry-aging tool that brings out the umami flavor of fish.
“Only the top chefs who are very skilled in monitoring aging and the techniques (are) able to use this type of equipment,” Noah said.
The custom-built Japanese cypress himuro has two levels: The top is for a large ice block, and the bottom is for fish. The ice both cools the fish and circulates moisture so it retains its supple nature. The chef has to continuously monitor the fish and determine when the fish is at its peak umami flavor, at which point the fish will be taken out to trim the exterior. Because only the inside is eaten, this method of preparation does yield significant food waste, which is one factor as to why the himuro will not always be in use.
While the restaurant doesn’t currently have the permits required to sell fugu, or blowfish, Nagai is certified and licensed to prepare it. If mishandled, fugu can result in paralysis or death, but it is a delicacy in Japan that the Nagai Edomae Sushi team hopes to eventually bring to their restaurant.
Nagai uses fresh wasabi from Japan, a root vegetable that takes five years to grow and cannot be exposed to sunlight.
“The Japanese wasabi is very juicy and also very sweet, not like casual restaurants (where the wasabi is) so spicy and makes you cry,” Noah said.
Nagai also imports a special shari, or sushi rice, that is his custom blend from Japanese cities Chiba and Toyama, seasoned with red vinegar for fragrance and acidity.
“It’s a bit sour, but not too sour to overpower, but just has enough acidity to complement the flavor of the fish,” Noah said. “Some of the fish, it can elevate the flavor to make you feel, ‘Wow, this is the taste of, for example, tuna. Wow, this is the real taste of the sardine.’”
Not only is the seasoning of the rice important, but the texture, portion and temperature are also key.
“It’s not too loose, not too firm, but it’s just firm enough and fluffy enough to hold together so the rice will not fall apart,” Noah said.
Without a scale, Nagai must pull the “the exact right amount (of rice), not even 0.1 gram higher or lower,” Noah said, which traditionally is 8 grams for women and slightly more for men. The sushi rice must be at body temperature (98-98.5 degrees Farenheit), and the fish must be at room temperature.
“The room-temperature fish, when combined together (with the body-temperature rice) at that particular moment, gives the optimum umami,” Noah said.
The service is fast-paced – and that’s on purpose. Sushi must be eaten right away and taken in one bite to enjoy its optimum quality, he said.
“Nowadays, people take pictures. It’s OK. They can get it ready and then take (the) picture and then eat it right away,” Noah said.
A star-studded team
Nagai was born and raised in Japan, first studying French cuisine before transitioning into sushi. He worked as a sushi chef at Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo and Singapore before becoming executive chef at a new omakase restaurant in San Francisco in 2019. While he wasn’t an owner and not all the recipes were his own, the restaurant was named after him: Sushi Nagai.
Nagai recruited Noah to become a manager at Sushi Nagai, where the two became friends. When Sushi Nagai closed during the pandemic, the pair knew they wanted to open a traditional edomae omakase together.
In 2021, Noah opened his first restaurant, Tancho in Castro Valley, with the intention that Nagai would take on the role of executive chef. Nagai was apprehensive about the location, so the pair continued to look for a new spot. In January 2023, they found the perfect spot “just by accident,” Noah said, at the former site of Galette in downtown Redwood City. (Since then, Noah has also opened Iki Omakase in Palo Alto.)
To round out the team, Noah recruited Kim Quach, who he previously worked with at Chez TJ, to be partner and general manager. Born in San Jose and raised in Sunnyvale, Quach started her journey in the service industry at Sunnyvale’s Ginger Cafe while attending San Jose State University for music and theater arts. She worked in car sales before transitioning into fine dining.
“We’re trying to be very more hospitality-focused as well, from the moment they walk in, and less pretentious as well, because sometimes if you go to a high-end restaurant, it becomes stuffy in my experience,” Quach said.
A former manager at Omakase SF, which previously held a Michelin star, Quach said Nagai Edomae Sushi has a larger bar counter, seats fewer guests (eight per seating) and is comparatively understated.
“(We want to) showcase Nagai’s skills and his style, traditional Japanese culture as well,” Quach said. “That’s why, with most of the interior, it’s pretty plain hinoki furniture to just be more traditional rather than showy in a sense, so everything is kind of plain.”
From the furniture to the menu, Nagai Edomae Sushi makes refined simplicity and minimalism a key part of the dining experience. Ensuring that patrons have a high-quality experience is of utmost importance for the Nagai team, Noah said.
“We have the experience already, but the passion keeps us going forward. I think that is something that I value most, the passion that we have in fine dining to make both the menu and the service better every day,” Noah said.
Nagai Edomae Sushi, 2074 Broadway, Redwood City; 650-281-4528, Instagram: @nagairedwoodcity. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Dig into food news. Follow the Peninsula Foodist on Instagram and subscribe to the newsletter to get insights on the latest openings and closings, learn what the Foodist is excited about eating, read exclusive interviews and keep up on the trends affecting local restaurants.
Correction: This version of the article has been updated to correct two typos.
Woman arrested at Meta headquarters after demanding to speak with ZuckerbergJanuary 7, 2026 11:58 am
Startup founder jailed in ‘wild scene’ at winery allowed to exercise $1M in stock optionsJanuary 6, 2026 10:53 am