Sushi Confidential: You don't fuck with...

Sushi Confidential

Here’s one that I think holds true in just about every kitchen...

It was 2020 and the opportunities to be a copywriter were slim. The world gone nuts and if they’re going to cut the budget on anything, it’s going to be the advertising.

I thought to myself, “what can I do? What do you want to do?”

I wonder if I was just dumb enough to do it, but I responded, “I wanna make sushi.”

There’s this joint in Portland called Nimblefish that I liked watching one of their chef’s videos filleting fish. I reached out. He told me to just call the best sushi joint in my city and ask them to teach me. Don’t go to culinary school. Pay dues.

Funny, I had never eaten there before, but I reached out to Ando. Its reputation is a family owned, small, actually authentic sushi joint. Old school in Cincinnati.

I asked, “Are you hiring?”

What do you want to do?

“Well, ‘sushi apprentice’ is a bit dramatic but – that..”

Do you want to wash dishes?



And so it went. I washed dishes for however many months. One of the head chefs in the kitchen, Jordan, we became close friends. Jefe the silent comedian. Cary the weirdo.

Sushi bar was Keichii Ando, the old man, and Misaki his right hand man at the time. Two studs. Also there was Zoey who I have had a crush on since maybe 2016 to this day. Zoey is the genuine article. You marry that one. Don’t fuck around. The way that woman sneezes will bring you to your knees. Hallelujah.

Wasn’t until Zoey quit that they brought me to sushi bar. Misaki co-signed me.

Until then it was me and Michael, washing dishes. He’ll be 41 now and lives with his grandma. Loves 90s movies and basketball. He never talks but will respond, and he works hard as hell.

Let me tell you. It’s tough in your 30s, not living the life you want to, doing the best you can, trying to make things work, not feeling sexy very often – washing dishes. It’s a tough job. Bourdain said the most important things in life, he learned as a dishwasher and a line cook. Society will tell you otherwise, but it's such a badge of honor.

The one thing I think holds true for every kitchen…

You don’t fuck with the dishwashers.

Best,

E

#ARTiculate