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What Makes an Excellent “Sushi Chef” (Itamae)?

Sushi is popular, but crappy sushi abounds because many of us (a) don’t know what makes good sushi and (b) don’t care as long as it’s cheap. There’s a time and place for fast food, even if it’s of the sushi variety, but when one is looking for the real deal and looking for excellence, one should know what to ask for and look for. Since I’ve just signed myself up for a 6-week sushi class and was talking to someone yesterday about how “sushi chefs” (itamae) are more than just fish slicers, I figure this post is well overdue.

I recently finished the book The Zen of Fish: The Story of Sushi from Samurai to Supermarket (also called The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice) by Trevor Corson. It’s a wonderful read for anyone interested in the history of sushi and what a good sushi chef goes through when being trained properly. In this book, the journalist-author recounts the story of a class of itamae-in-training through a 12-week intensive curriculum (and apprenticeship) and wraps in the history of the various elements of sushi. It’s a wonderfully-entertaining and educational read. However, the sushi academy isn’t the traditional way itamae were trained. The traditional itamae in Japan go through a 5- to 6-year apprenticeship. It is about an intense focus on the details – it’s about perfection at every step of the way. There are many sources in books and online about the traditional apprenticeship process that itamae go through.

An itamae must know not only how to make perfect sushi rice (a test that most sushi joints in North America – certainly around Toronto – fail right away) but also how to make a variety of cooked dishes. When you sit at the sushi bar and, ideally, go omakase (“it’s up to you, chef!”) the itamae will showcase his skills to you with his best sushi & sashimi but also small cooked dishes. Think of it sort of like tapas. The chef needs to do it all.

But there’s more to it than that. What are the key things to look for when assessing the itamae at the sushi bar in front of you?

1. First and foremost, the sushi must be good. The ingredients must be exceptionally fresh. If the fish or veggies are in any way off in terms of freshness, and if the rice is too mushy or too hard or if anything just doesn’t taste right, that is unacceptable.
2. The itamae should take full responsibility for your dining experience. If anything is off and when you complain, they should take all steps to make it right. If they try to pass the buck, you have an itamae who isn’t running his sushi bar properly.
3. The counter and food preparation area must be scrupulously clean. A good itamae knows that cleanliness and organization are key not only to food safety but also to customer satisfaction and his (or her) own productivity. A messy sushi chef is not a good sushi chef. A good itamae will be nearly (or actually) obsessive about his equipment and his area. It should all be spotless and in 100% condition.
4. The itamae should be interacting with all his customers. Anyone sitting at the sushi bar should be able to interact with the itamae and engage them in interesting conversation or banter. A good sushi chef should be able to converse with customers while preparing food the way a good bartender will converse and joke around with customers.
5. The itamae should be able to handle the pressure of busy service (at lunch or dinner peak times, for example) while still remaining confident, poised, clean, organized, efficient, and still maintain conversation with patrons.

A good itamae isn’t just a fish slicer. A good itamae is a skilled craftsman – a master, if you will – preparing a wide variety of foods, carrying on a busy workload of tasks, keep everything clean and pristine, and create & maintain a jovial atmosphere with customers all at the same time.

If you go to the neighborhood strip mall sushi counter, you probably don’t have a skilled itamae on your hands. But if you go to a restaurant that promotes itself as being serious material (e.g. isn’t all-you-can-eat), you should assess the man or woman behind the counter with a stringent set of standards. Do they meet the conditions listed above? If they do not, you do not have a good sushi chef on your hands, and you should consider going elsewhere next time.