OMAKASE RISING
“At an omakase, once you sit down, you eat whatever the chef cooks for you.”
I’m at Sokyo’s renowned omakase, with five other lucky guests. It’s one of Sydney’s toughest reservations to snare, and we’re excited. Chef Sanghyeop Kim stands behind the transparent counter. He’s new to the role but if he’s nervous, it doesn’t show. As he fashions a cavalcade of 20 or so dishes, knife gleaming as it transforms the imperador, trevally, akami and whatever else was fresh at the market this morning into art, he narrates exactly what he’s doing, while his captive audience tests him with erudite and esoteric questions. The couple next to me tell him that they do this – omakase – every month. Twelve a year? Surely no one does something this special that often?
“Once a month, yeah, that’s cute,” says Michael Shen, laughing when I ask him. wrote that Sydney’s best omakase restaurants were secret and underground. Now, they all have vast mainstream followings, with new openings joining the ranks each month.
