Sunday, July 15, 2012

Dreams of sushi




Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, 
but when there is nothing left to take away

 —Antoine de Saint-Exupery











Jiro Ono, the 85-year old sushi master has given his life to his work. David Gelb's fine documentary film Jiro Dreams of Sushi is as much a meditation on Ono's singleminded, passionate focus, as it is of chasing perfection itself. Those vendors that Ono trusts, that select the choicest tuna and shrimp and provide extraordinary rice are equally possessed by excellence and quality. Repeatedly throughout the film you hear, "Money doesn't matter." There can be up to a 3-month wait for reservations at Ono's restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, in Tokyo, Japan. You won't find appetizers, not even a menu. Instead, Chef Jiro serves the highest quality sushi at the perfect temperature, one piece at a time.


I'll continue to climb, trying to reach the top. But no one knows where the top is.

—Jiro Ono


3 comments:

Anikó said...

Thanks for introducing this, we've just watched it (prompted by your post) and found it very compelling.

Your blog is our new answer sheet to the 'what-movie-to-watch-tonight' dilemma :)

Susan said...

Thank you! Always on my dilemma list: what to watch next, read next, cook next.

Anikó said...

It seems we have a very similar dilemma list then :) 'What's for dinner' is sometimes the most dreaded... I wish we could have our dinners planned out a month ahead, to avoid the pain of wrecking our brains for dinner ideas :) Luckily he cooks, I usually just chop and prep...

I'm reading Margaret Atwood currently, can fully recommend!