[category]
[title]
Kogen Omakase hides in plain sight. Off Ocean Avenue in the thick of Santa Monica—I’m talking close enough to see the pier—a mysterious dark blue facade and door lead into what’s well poised to become one of the city’s most loved omakases. Kogen is Japanese for “highlands,” fitting for its mountains-meet-the-ocean aesthetic and philosophy: fish from the sea paired with sake from high-elevation breweries and vermouths made with alpine botanicals. Truth be told, next door to Third Street Promenade was the last place I expected an enlightened culinary experience, but I was quickly wooed by all parties involved: restaurateur Adrian Taylor, chef Yasu Iwai and beverage and operations director Sarah Daisy Jackson.
Osaka-born Iwai trained under Hiroyuki Sato, first at Tokami and later at Hakkoku, one of Tokyo’s most talked-about sushi spots. A mutual friend introduced Iwai and Taylor while Iwai was working at Katana in Miami. Taylor, who had opened Mila and then Carbone (both on Miami Beach), had long been searching for a chef he felt he could go all the way with, and Iwai was the one. The pair ran a sushi pop-up at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, followed by a summer pop-up at the St. Regis Aspen. Those successes inspired them to fully commit to each other, but access to great produce and fresh fish was still an unsolved problem. Enter Los Angeles.
Since opening in July, Kogen has been serving 14 courses (plus extras) for $295 per person. The plan was four menu changes a year, but one or two dishes now rotate every two to three weeks, driven by what Iwai and Jackson score at the market. There are two seatings a night: 6pm for up to eight guests and 8pm for up to 10.
The vibe: Once inside, you feel worlds away from the bustling Promenade, in the best way. Intention is everywhere. Much of the interior was built and painted by Jackson’s father, a Hollywood set builder, and it shows in the details: deep navy paneled walls, a slate stone backsplash anchored by a round live-edge wood and moss centerpiece, miniature wooden pagodas, orchids and lotus candle holders, all in earthy harmony. Even the plates, which took six months to make, were commissioned in Oribe-style, a green-glazed style of Japanese pottery. The plush, curved barrel-back counter stools are incredibly comfortable, a plus for the two-ish hour experience.
Before the omakase, guests come together in a moody, velvet-filled lounge. Taylor believes you should get to know the strangers you’re about to break bread with, preferably over bubbles and a rice chip and caviar amuse-bouche. Then it’s on to the aforementioned dining room, where you can opt for the counter, up close and personal with Iwai, or the pair of two-tops for a more intimate, private experience.
The food: House rule is no one leaves hungry. As a regular omakase-goer, Taylor is adamant about this. And trust, hungry you will not leave. Nor will you ever have kampachi at Kogen. Every sushi spot serves it, Iwai tells me. Rather, he’s interested in serving rare picks straight from Toyosu Market. “Just when I think I’ve had every freaking fish coming out of Toyosu, Yasu brings in a new one,” says Taylor. In this case, Taylor is talking about the yagara—cornetfish presented with a shiso leaf underneath, atop exquisitely handled, one hundred percent Koshihikari rice. Other standout nigiri included ishigaki dai (spotted knifejaw), amadai (tilefish), tachiuo (largehead hairtail), torched kamasu (barracuda) and a tuna flight. Beyond the nigiri, you’ll be regaled with stunning vegetable and fish dishes. My lineup featured brûléed figs over sesame paste with shiso flower; cherrywood-smoked fuefuki dai with ginger scallion and house ponzu; a toro hand roll with daikon and ultra-crispy nori; Asian pear with wakame and lobster; Indonesian blue crab in a well-structured dashi with edamame and house-marinated zucchini; summer uni on the sweeter side with sushi rice, ikura and fresh wasabi; and Iwai’s twist on his obachan’s (grandmother’s) truffle lobster chawanmushi with mitsuba, oyster and shiitake mushrooms. Somewhere along this journey, there will also be a lovely palate cleanser (golden kiwi and lime sorbet on my visit). And of course, dessert, which will reliably consist of granita. Jackson is a woman of many talents—beverages (more on that soon) and sweets among them. Her granita was a plum trifecta: Flavor Fall, Honey Punch and Black Cat over lemon curd. And her take-home mint and matcha cookies, soft-baked daily, are a morning-after Kogen treat.
The drink: Jackson was the lead bartender at Bavel, where she mixed upwards of 500 cocktails a night. She was shaking two at once when Taylor sat down at her bar, and the two bonded over a shared love of vermouth—she poured him a Bordiga Bianco over a large cube with a lemon twist. Naturally, vermouth is now the backbone of Kogen’s high-altitude-inspired beverage program, with bottles from the Alpine regions of northern Italy, the Andes and Terra Alta in Catalonia. Taylor and Jackson swear vermouth and sushi are a match made in heaven, and after sipping that very same Bordiga alongside a dry Casa Mario Blanc (made with more than 150 botanicals), I’m a convert. The ice gets the Jackson treatment too, with edible flowers frozen into the cubes. Then there’s the sake. Hakkaisan’s snow-aged sake from Niigata spends three years in a snow storehouse near Mount Hakkai, and Kogen serves it at a near-frozen 30 degrees. It was a happy accident, discovered at their Aspen pop-up, after Taylor mistakenly stashed his sake in a freezer and the Hakkaisan was the only bottle that didn’t break. Cocktails are all sake and shochu-based and low-ABV. I had the East Side, a shiso-and-sake-forward Japanese spin on the classic Eastside which was wonderfully herbaceous and crisp.
Time Out tip: Sake, cocktail and vermouth flights are all available, but the vermouth flight is the one to order; you won’t find anything like it at other omakases. Not drinking? The NA libations hold their own, and further the farmers’ market philosophy, e.g. a strawberry and shiso soda made with Harry’s Berries strawberries.