Katsuya at The Americana on Brand

Katsuya
702 Americana Way
Glendale, CA 91210
818-244-5900

http://www.sbeent.com/katsuya/

Sunday evenings we love to be alone and go for a drive or a walk somewhere not too far from the house. The Americana at Brand has become one of D's favorite destinations. He loves to park the car, walk the grounds, people watch and pop into a few favorite shops. The opening of a Katsuya at The Americana did not hurt.



The Katsuya website will not allow me to copy and past any pertinent info, so go look yourself if you want. I am too lazy to type it all out. Suffice to say there are three, one in Brentwood, one in Hollywood and now one in inauspicious Glendale. Interior designed by Phillipe Starck of Mondrian fame, and so on.



On Sunday nights we enjoy sitting at the bar, watching the bartenders work. The guys behind the bar last night were menschs. Really, really nice guys. Yeah, they were working for a paycheck and tips and what have you, but they were really friendly and we had some nice conversations about our favorite sushi places in town, all located in Little Tokyo.



The sushi bar runs parallel to the alcohol bar, but the chefs back there are incredibly busy and not as loquacious.



I love these cubes which house virtual sushi knives.



Really, there is nothing in there. It's just a plexiglass light box with the shape of a ginzu knife (or whatever brand, surely not from an infomercial).



The attention to detail is pleasing. Simple yet appealing.



I always like to nibble on shishito peppers. Fried and not too too spicy.



Eda mame, always, of course.



I was a little less than thrilled by these sunomono salads. I loved the dressing, very light and almost brothy. But the cucumber to me seemed a little wilted. And I was in deep suspicion of the intentions of the dark red ginger. Why is it red and not pinky-peach? Why? It seems wrong.



I love octopus, however, and was pleased at the size of the dish and the quantity & freshness of the octopus.


This ahi sashimi & arugula salad made up for the sunumono. The tuna melted in my mouth. It was crazy fresh. So delicious. Dressed lightly in olive oil and soy sauce, this was very pleasing.



Just gorgeous. Pleasing to the eye and the palate.



And they carry Sayuri unfiltered sake, my favorite. It is not the most expensive, it is not considered refined or luxurious. But it is wonderful and carried in many places, from Haru Ulala to Katsuya.