There's so much drooly food porn on TV these days, it takes an exceptional subject to arrest our senses and hold our attention. Now 86, Jiro Ono — the world's premier sushi chef — is that subject. And the lovely little documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” honors Ono while making his culinary creations of horse mackerel, squid, egg, halibut, fatty tuna, “medium” tuna, lean tuna and gizzard shad, served in his 10-seat Tokyo restaurant, look like the most wondrous mouthfuls of fish on rice on the planet.More than one interview subject in producer-director David Gelb's film speaks of how "nervous" they were trying Ono's restaurant, located underground near the Ginza subway station, for the first time or simply the most recent time. It's a sacred temple of sushi, not well suited to leisurely meals (some diners eat in as few as 15 minutes) or idle chatter regarding its coveted three-star Michelin rating. Ono's presence is quiet but charged from within, and he emits the cool, exacting regard of the monumentally self-critical specialist.

Two Ono sons figure into this story. The younger,Takashi,has opened up his own restaurant elsewhere in Tokyo. Older brother Yamamoto, now 51, per Japanese custom is in line to take over for his father when Jiro retires.It's not easy being compared with their father, whose own childhood was harsh and virtually fatherless (his father drank and took off when Jiro was 7). Jiro's work ethic borders on the pathological, even among world-class chefs. "Nowadays," Jiro says on camera with a slight smile, "parents tell their children, 'You can return if it doesn't work out.' When parents say stupid things like that, the kids turn out to be failures."The details are delectable in"Jiro Dreams of Sushi,"such as the time taken to properly massage an octopus before boiling (30 to 40 minutes) or the aspects of Jiro's calling that drive him each day (his goal, always, he says, is to "be regarded honorably").At 72 minutes, Gelb's documentary (which does revert to the food-doc fallback of the slow-mo close-up once too often) regards with fondness its subject and his kingdom.

Plus, we meet a variety of interdependent characters, from tuna vendors to rice experts, all in thrall to Jiro and his sons. 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi' -- 3 1/2 starsMPAA rating: PG (for mild thematic elements and brief smoking)Running time: 1:22Opens: Friday Too cold for car wash? Motormouth answers your questionsPriscilla Lifts The Veil On Sex Life With ElvisDouble Murder: A Family Affair? Dark meaning of bubble-gum Pumped Up Kicks is tough to chewSome Tips That Will Help Your Fireplace Stop SmokingPrincess Grace`s Fatal Crash: Her Daughter`s AccountThe sushi of Jiro’s dreams will run you $20/minute Sukiyabashi Jiro is a 3-star Michelin restaurant in Tokyo that many say serves the best sushi in the world. The chef/owner, 86-year-old Jiro Ono, was the subject of last year’s excellent Jiro Dreams of Sushi documentary film. Adam Goldberg of A Life Worth Eating ate at Sukiyabashi Jiro yesterday. The meal was 21 courses, about US$380 per person (according the web site, excluding drinks), and lasted only 19 minutes.

That’s more than a course a minute and, Goldberg estimates, around $20 per person per minute. And apparently totally worth it. Goldberg has photos of each course up on Flickr and his site has a write-up of his 2009 meal. Three slices of tuna came next, akami, chu-toro, and oo-toro increasing from lean, to medium fatty, to extremely fatty cuts. The akami (lean toro) was the most tender slice of tuna I’ve ever tasted that did not contain noticeable marbelization. jiro dreams of sushi tpbThe tuna was marinated in soy sauce for several minutes before service, perhaps contributing to this unique texture. sushi online bestellen berlin weddingThe medium fatty tuna had an interesting mix of crunch and fat, while the fatty tuna just completely melted in my mouth. yo sushi menu bristol

My friend with whom I shared this meal began to tear (I kid you not). Lest you think Goldberg’s meal was an anomaly, this is a typical meal at Sukiyabashi Jiro. Dave Arnold wrote about his experience earlier this year: The sushi courses came out at a rate of one per minute. 19 courses in 19 minutes. No ordering, no real talking — just making sushi and eating sushi. After the sushi is done you are motioned to leave the sushi bar and sit at a booth where you are served your melon. sushi mushi game onlineWe took that melon at a leisurely 10 minute pace, leaving us with a bill of over $300 per person for just under 30 minutes time. Nastassia and Mark thought the pace was absurd and unpleasant. They felt obliged to keep up with Jiro’s pace. I didn’t feel obliged, but kept up anyway. I didn’t mind the speed. I could have easily eaten even faster, but I’m an inhuman eating machine — or so I’m told.

At the end of the meal, Jiro went outside the restaurant and stood guard at the entrance, waiting to bid us formal adieu. This made Nastassia even more nervous about rushing to get out. At over 10 dollars a minute I have no problem letting an 86 year old man stand and wait for me to finish my melon if he wants to. Master sushi chef Jiro Ono (left), owner of the famous sushi restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro, listens to his son, Yoshikazu Ono, at a press conference held Tuesday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club Japan in Tokyo. Master sushi chef Jiro warns of raw deal from overfishing Acclaimed sushi maestro Jiro Ono, who in May served up delicacies for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama, has warned of an imminent sea change in the availability of ingredients due to overfishing. “I can’t imagine at all that sushi in the future will be made of the same materials we use today,” the 89-year-old chef told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on Tuesday.

Ono owns the tiny Sukiyabashi Jiro restaurant — which has three Michelin stars and has been described as the world’s best sushi establishment — and was the subject of a 2011 documentary, “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.” “I told my young men three years ago sushi materials will totally change in five years,” he added. “And now, little by little, such a trend is becoming reality.” Ono referred in particular to a shortage of high-quality domestic tuna, which has prompted sushi dealers in Japan to source Atlantic bluefin varieties instead. His eldest son, Yoshikazu, 53, who helps Ono run the restaurant, said growing demand for tuna amid a global sushi boom is leading the domestic industry to depend more and more on farmed fish. The younger Ono also warned of a shrinking stock of highly prized shellfish such as abalone and ark shell, species that need more than five years to mature. He blamed the comprehensive harvesting of immature juveniles along with the more sustainable adults.

“They catch them all together, pushing the stock to deplete,” he said. The basement restaurant, which seats just 10 at a counter, opened its doors in a commercial building in Tokyo’s Ginza district in 1965 and has remained there ever since. Its fame centers in part on Ono’s famed rigid discipline and pursuit of perfection, earning three Michelin stars every year since 2007, the year the Tokyo edition of the gourmet guide was launched. About 70 percent of the restaurant’s customers, who pay an eyebrow-raising base price of ¥30,000 for a set of 20 pieces of sushi, are now said to be foreigners. When Obama traveled to Tokyo last April, he joined a long list of celebrity guests. Past diners have included French master chef Joel Robuchon and celebrites Hugh Jackman and Katy Perry. When Obama and Abe arrived they went straight into “business-like talks” focusing on trade. As they spoke, the senior Ono served up his selection of 20 pieces, the way he treats any ordinary diner, his son said.