Matsumoto

Starting out, chef Matsu was a sushi chef apprentice under Chef Nozawa (of Sushi Nozawa, plus originator of the now twin empires of SugarFish + KazuNori). Chef Nozawa was famously the “sushi nazi”, would yell at people and stuff, and sort of helped popularize the understanding of omakase sushi dining in SoCal. Chef Matsu is def more chill than that, but he’s still serious about sushi, and omakase is the thing to do at Matsumoto.

When I was growing up, chef Matsu was the sushi chef at Hirozen, which was in the very corner of the strip mall on Beverly and Orlando. It was our ~nice~ sushi spot and I’d go to with my dad there, usually for sort of special occasions. After 15 years at Hirozen, Matsu became the owner and changed the name from Hirozen to his own name, Matsumoto. Just recently, they moved to the current location in k-town on Vermont and 7th in another strip mall. I love chef Matsu.