It was a sad day when the news broke that the man known as The Sushi Nazi was retiring:

Putting Away His Knife and Those Cutting Words

You may recognize the name of the restaurant from Rules of the Game, if you read closely.

Here’s a video on his process. It’s great to watch, irregardless of whether you’ve been there, because what it’s really about is mastery.

Enjoy:

And here’s Sushi Nozawa’s namesake, the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld:

Finally, the guy who directed the video on Nozawa just finished a new movie on supposedly Japan’s best sushi chef (and possibly the man who trained Nozawa):

Hungry yet?

If so, try Sushi Iki in Tarzana in Los Angeles. I hate to give this one away, because there’s never a crowd. And unlike Nozawa, chef Eddie here is the nicest sushi chef you’ll ever meet. His specialty is fish so fresh it’s in a tank in the back and inventing insanely rich dishes (with truffle sauce and foie gras). Not cheap, but worth it. Janus Friis, the Skype founder, supposedly flies in on his private jet just to have dinner here, then flies back home. Make sure you have the Chef’s Choice, and stop him when you get full, otherwise he’ll keep going. (Just make sure you experience the halibut sashimi with truffle, foie gras, and caviar AND the king crab salad with cilantro sauce and, if you’re daring the live Uni). Note that showing your appreciation with a fist bump at the end is very important to Eddie.