So, what is Daisuke Nakazawa doing in Seattle after 11 years under the tutelage of Shiro Kashiba's longtime friend and mentor? Nancy Leson tells all. DAISUKE NAKAZAWA’S grin widened when I ordered “omakase” at Shiro’s last June — giving the 34-year-old sushi chef, newly arrived from Tokyo, the go-ahead to show me what he’s got. What he didn’t have was command of the English language. Smiling and nodding, he presented me with Spanish mackerel (“sawara!”) and fresh Hood Canal shrimp (“amaebi!”), then, at meal’s end, handed-off a pair of tamago nigiri, crowing, “Jiro Dreams of Sushi!” “Yes,” I said, admiring the thick cut of his sweet omelet. “I saw that documentary,” an homage to Jiro Ono, the elderly owner of a 10-seat sushi bar in a Ginza district subway station — and the man some call the world’s greatest sushi chef. “Jiro Dreams of Sushi!” Daisuke repeated, when it was clear I’d missed his point. I failed to recognize this smiling sushiman as the film’s solemn senior apprentice who famously recounted making tamago under the stern eye of Jiro Ono: months of failure, 200 rejections and, finally, approval.

“I was so happy I cried,” the subtitle read. So, what is Daisuke doing in Seattle after 11 years under the tutelage of Shiro Kashiba’s longtime friend and mentor?Shiro doesn’t have any,” explains a translator speaking for the majority owner who bought Shiro’s in 2007. “We want Shiro to keep working,” as he does three nights a week, “but we need a next generation.” “I’m a lucky boy,” adds Daisuke, recruited to sustain the tradition of edomae sushi — the classics, hold the mango-tango roll — under Shiro’s Belltown banner. Since his arrival, he’s been an enthusiastic student of ESL, and learned to chide pickled-ginger-scarfing patrons with Shiro-esque wit, noting that palate refresher is meant “to change taste; it is not a salad!” He’s appeared with Shiro at community events and shared Jiro’s secrets with his colleagues, showing them how to smoke king mackerel over hay. And he expresses his naturally ebullient character, says Shiro, when he jokes, “bluefin, the Wagyu beef of sushi!”

Daisuke was 19 when he got his first job at a suburban sushi joint. He gave it up to work as a “salaryman” for an Internet company, leaving that job to take on two more: waking at 4:30 a.m. to schlep tuna carcasses at Tsukiji market, then working nights in a restaurant. He married on his 23rd birthday, about the time Jiro Ono placed a want ad for an apprentice. “Lucky boy” got the job at Sukiyabashi Jiro — which later earned three Michelin stars. For the first three months, he recalls, “It was all cleaning, all obeying, saying ‘Yes, yes,’ and never talking back.” jiro dreams of sushi netflix irelandBy the fourth month he was allowed to handle fish. youda sushi online spielenIt was five years before he stood behind the sushi bar assisting Jiro and his son.sushi conveyor belt arlington heights

Daisuke says working for Jiro gave him the confidence to apply for a job overseas, uproot his wife and children, and embark on a career he loves — but would not wish on his sons. “You work too hard.” At Sukiyabashi Jiro, where patrons pay $300-plus for omakase, the experience is more about reverence than revelry. There, “their ultimate goal is deliciousness,” said Daisuke. At Shiro’s, “It’s about enjoyment and entertainment.” Shiro, 71, says his ambitious new hire has what it takes to spread the gospel of old-school sushi in America. sushi conveyor belt raleigh ncAs for Daisuke, “My dream,” he says, “is to be the No. 1 sushi chef in the U.S.”ichiban sushi menu ocean springs ms Nancy Leson is The Seattle Times’ food writer. genki sushi menu waikele

Benjamin Benschneider is a Pacific NW magazine staff photographer.Nana Asian Fusion & Sushi BarCan't stand to eat the same old leftovers again? We don't blame you. Go with sushi for a fresh take on dinner.One of the under-praised benefits of the Peak TV era has been the recent explosion in quality documentaries. The rise of streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu has brought on more venues looking to snap up new and existing docs and, in the case of Making a Murderer, produce their own. With gems like O.J.: Made in America frequently permeating the zeitgeist, it seems that Documentary Now! appeared at just the right time. Created by the SNL all-star trifecta of Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Seth Meyers—with an assist from fellow alum John Mulaney—Documentary Now! is a weekly mockumentary series on IFC. Over the course of last year's seven episodes, it has managed to single-handedly reinvigorate a satirical genre that's lost its mojo in recent years. Despite highlights like Best In Show, Brass Eye, and Borat, the 2000s bore a glut of shows and films bearing the fake-doc format.

[Insert a Jim from The Office exhausted look to camera here.] s innovation is that, instead of parodying the subject matter itself, this show targets specific documentaries. The resulting jokes are recontextualized and multilayered. Helen Mirren[Photo: David Giesbrecht, courtesy of IFC] In the world of the series, a show called Documentary Now! has been on the air for 51 seasons. Host Helen Mirren, played by the Oscar winner herself, introduces each week's entry in a straightforward manner, and what follows might be a horror movie riff on Grey Gardens, or an incendiary send-up of Vice's too-hip-to-survive drug-drenched escapades—both of which were featured last season. Now that the show is returning to IFC tonight, here is Co.Create's guide to all the targets in the second season of Documentary Now! (Maybe next time, Making a Murderer!) The Source Documentary: The War Room The Episode It Inspired: The Bunker In the premiere episode, the classic political doc gets a local focus remix.

The D.A. Pennebaker-directed original followed strategists James Carville and George Stephanopoulos on the campaign trail for Bill Clinton in 1992. The Bunker shifts the action to a much lower stakes election, the gubernatorial election in Ohio, with Armisen playing the Stephanopoulos role (Alvin Panagoulious) and Hader reviving his Carville impression from SNL (although here the character is called Teddy Redbones). The Source Documentary: Jiro Dreams of Sushi The Episode It Inspired: Juan Likes Rice & Chicken Back in 2011, Jiro Dreams of Sushi captured the dedication that went into operating one of the world's top sushi restaurants, along with the internal family tension that goes along with maintaining it. version moves the action south of the border, and takes some funny shots at foodie culture. This episode offers one of the show's premier pleasures: a counterbalance of sweetness with silliness that makes viewers actually care about these characters. The Source Documentary: Swimming to Cambodia

The Episode It Inspired: Parker Gail's Location Is Everything The first of two Jonathan Demme films parodied this season, Swimming to Cambodia is the cinematic version of a monologue Spalding Gray used to perform in New York City in the '80s. In it, the actor and writer discusses his time spent in Southeast Asia, among other more metaphysical pursuits. Fred Armisen recreates the spare style of Gray's stage show, but turns it into an exegesis on real estate and his troubled marriage. The Source Documentary: Stop Making Sense The Episode It Inspired: Final Transmission One of the standout episodes on the first season of Documentary Now! was the two-part musical episode, Gentle and Soft: The Story of the Blue Jean Committee. It was a take off of the Eagles that found sometime musician Armisen in his comfort zone. (The songs were actually pretty great.) Considering that this episode is a take off of the seminal Talking Heads film, often cited as the greatest musical documentary ever, expect big things.

The Source Documentary: Salesman The Episode It Inspired: Globesmen The Maysles brothers aimed for a nonfiction feature film with Salesman, hoping to do for movies what Truman Capote did for literature with In Cold Blood. They may not have quite achieved that lofty goal, but they did make a landmark film following four Bible salesmen traveling across New England and southeast Florida on the way to a big meeting in Chicago. (Think: the sadder scenes in Glengarry Glen Ross.) As you can probably infer from the title, in the new version Hader and Armisen are selling globes instead of Bibles. The Source Documentary: The Kid Stays in the Picture The Episode It Inspired: Mr. Runner Up: My Life as an Oscar Bridesmaid Finally, the second season ends with another two-parter. This one tackles the 2002 film version of megaproducer and broken icon Robert Evans's famous memoir. Before the film came out, the audiobook was a beloved cult item. Nobody could resist cackling along with Evans's hilariously self-aggrandizing tone.