Editor’s note: This story was originally published in Issue One of Life & Thyme. To read the full feature in its entirety, purchase Issue One from our online shop or from one of our stockists. It’s 5:12 a.m. Behind a thick panel of plastic curtains, fish bones are ripped out under fluorescent lights and blood smears on plastic cutting boards. I’m standing in a small puddle next to Alfredo Gurrola, one of the most sought-after seafood purveyors in Los Angeles, marveling at the pink tuna bellies standing at attention on nearby table, awaiting their fate. With scales splattered on my leather boots, I turn to Gurrola and ask how he chooses fish. “It’s a combination of learned technique and instinct. Even though you can know why the fish should be one way, or look for clear gills, you must have the feeling. You have to love it.” What he loves is a market that smells of salt and the faintest wisp of seaweed. Six days a week, Gurrola walks the floor at International Marine Products (IMP) in downtown Los Angeles, overseeing deliveries and meticulously inspecting orders placed by his roster of restaurant clients.

Silver mackerel straight as a board is still in rigamortis. yo sushi menu aberdeenAbalone from New Zealand, the size of a grown man’s fist, suctions itself to the interior of a plastic bucket. ichiban sushi menu newmarketA  five hundred pound bluefin tuna marked SG—sushi grade—with a red felt pen is unearthed from beneath a tarp.sushi making kit selfridges In spare moments, Gurrola calls markets on the east coast and sends texts to local chefs with the morning’s updates, like when storms prevent a box of Nantucket bay scallops from arriving on time. can you buy sushi from publix with ebt

It’s a fast-paced, twenty four hour job. jiro dreams of sushi untertitelSome might buckle at the intensity, but the daily challenges have helped fuel his passion for nearly thirty years.sushi maker tupperware anleitung Growing up in Zacatecas, Mexico, fish was rarely in his mother’s kitchen, and Gurrola softens into a smile when I ask how his role developed from driving a truck for IMP—his first job in 1985—to working directly with chefs and brokers. “I saw how IMP handled the fish, how the chefs prepared it, and the freshness.” Although his depth of knowledge was cultivated slowly, Gurrola’s confidence can be traced to one memory. Early on, Gurrola was showing an IMP customer a fish he was particularly in love with that day. “It looked so good, so beautiful,” he recalls.

“When I showed it to the chef and explained how the fish was cut, he looked at me and told my boss ‘I want to buy that fish just because I see the passion he has.’” Gurrola turns away and opens a box of tiger prawns, pulling one up by the tail before it curls its body in protest. The rest remain covered in wood chips. “To prevent suffocation,” he says, noticing as I lean in closer. For Chef Michael Cimarusti, relationships are as important as the products. He worked with a handful of IMP reps before Gurrola took over the account for his two-Michelin star Hollywood restaurant, Providence, and the two bonded quickly. “I trusted him immediately,” Cimarusti says. “I know he has his eye on everything that comes to us and understands the quality we’re looking for.” Years later, Gurrola still insists he is not a salesman. “I can’t sell fish by talking. My selling point is offering quality.” Cimarusti is quick to interject. He doesn’t have to sell anything to me.

I just know that when I need something, there’s nobody else to get it from.” Providence maintains strict sustainability standards and doesn’t mind paying more for wild fish. “It’s a value choice that people need to make,” Cimarusti notes. “When you’re guaranteed the fish is wild and sustainable, there are costs associated with that. Do you want to pay $10 for a piece of grilled salmon that was farm raised irresponsibly in a foreign country and not tested for its wholesomeness, or do you want to buy something wild, that’s keeping American fishermen on the water, that’s being harvested in a sustainable manner?” This conviction, stemming in part from Cimarusti’s lifelong devotion to fishing, translates into the seasonal menu at Providence. “Whatever we do to the fish here is as important to the experience of our guests as anything else. I tell the cooks all the time, that fish didn’t come all the way from Japan or Australia to be mistreated. Somebody went and pulled that fish out of the ocean and shipped it around the world.

Not only monetarily, but honoring the ingredients. To have it go to waste is a cardinal sin to us.” Want to read the full story? Find it in Issue One of Life & Thyme, available to purchase  from our online shop or from one of our stockists. Early January Friday, we stopped for a lunch. Not very crowded, post New Years. Sat at the bar and enjoyed the service and conversation with the bartender. Lunch entrees although about 6 or 8 offered a decent variety. But we opted for sushi. A Morris roll, Crunchie munchi and a salmon sushimi were very welcome. A moderate cost bottle of... “Best sushi in Providence” Was in Providence with my daughter to look at college, and we were hankering for a good steak dinner. Used google search and found "10" and walked in. This was hands down one of the best steak dinners we have ever had and our waiter Johnny was outstanding. We ordered a rare and a medium rare cut and they were... We went to Ten planning to have steaks... Decided to try some sushi as appetizers so asked our waiter to recommend their best sushi roll.

Well, it was so amazing we just kept telling the waiter to surprise us and he did 'cuz the sushi kept coming till we were full! It was some of the best sushi we've ever... This place used to be good but not so much anymore...two out of the three steaks were over cooked and dry. No one came by with salt and pepper (and the steaks needed both). Salad was dry, had to ask for more dressing. Calamari was very good, as were the tater tots, but if the Irish charged this much for... This restaurant came highly recommended by the front desk at our hotel and I had the pleasure of dining here while in town visiting our niece. We arrived around 8:30 on a Thursday evening and were seated immediately by a friendly hostess. Our server was Johnny and he was very attentive, outgoing and made certain to suggest all of the... A nice evening out with our friends for dinner. We sat at the bar before dinner for a drink, very nice bar area, not big but okay. The dining area is not very big, they were going to seat us at a table by the front window but we opted to wait for a booth to open up.

Hi Linda, thank you so much for your review and rating! Your thoughts are completely reasonable and understandable. We would love to see you again soon sometime! The entire family thoroughly enjoyed our meal from appetizer to dessert! Drinks were great and the service was outstanding! My personal favorite was topping this all off with some gourmet cotten candy! The crunchy munchie sushi roll was one of the best things I have ever had. The Truffle parmesan cheese fries were outstanding. Being a fan of both sushi and steak it seemed like a good choice being I didn't know the area. I chose sushi and my co-worker opted for the steak. I got a roll with some sashimi as well. The yellowtail had a noticeable "fishy" taste and smell. The roll was much better but I couldn't get past the off... My husband and I recently dined here and the whole experience was mediocre at best. My biggest issue is that my steak was overcooked and our waiter did not come back to inquire about how the steaks were prepared.