Good sushi restaurants can be hard to come by. It all depends on your taste, likes and dislikes. It's difficult to stray from sushi places that you like because you know what to expect and the quality of fish you're going to receive. But I wanted to try a new place, one I've heard a lot about recently. So I made my way solo up to San Francisco and checked out Sebo in Hayes Valley. The first thing you will notice is it's very difficult to find. No sign out front, just an open door and menu on the front window. It is a very small restaurant that seats six at the sushi bar and probably no more than 25-30 in the regular dining area. They don't take reservations either, so if you want to sit down immediately, it's best that you get here when they first open (Tuesday-Sunday at 6:00 PM). Another great feature of the restaurant; you can bring in your own bottle of sake with no added charge! Not to mention that True Sake is right across the street, so you can pick up a fairly inexpensive bottle and enjoy it with the sushi. 
I was the second group in and took a seat at the sushi bar. From what I had heard, the way to go is to order "omakase," which translates to chef's choice. I was ready to dig in! One of the amazing things about Sebo is that they get their fish flown in daily from three major markets in Japan. So while fish in San Francisco is usually amazingly fresh, the quality and texture was something I have never had before. 
I started off with an interesting appetizer. Slightly grilled nori (seaweed) seasoned with sea salt with a small slice of avocado on the side. Sushi chef Fukashi Adachi said to eat them together and the sea salt flavored nori would match the soft texture of the avocado. He was exactly correct. No rice needed, the textures and flavors were perfect together. After enjoying the appetizer, it was on to the fish.
I started with a sashimi plate which included four different fish: shimaaji (striped jack mackerel belly), hirame (fluke) mebachi maguro topped with dried nori (big eye tuna) and honmaguro (blue fin tuna). The artistic nature of the presentation was visually delightful. And each pice of sashimi had it's own character and flavor. The hirame and honmaguro were especially tasty but each piece was exceptionally fresh and melt in your mouth good.
The dining adventure continued with five pieces of nigiri. This plate included tai (sea bream), katsuo (bonito), hotegai (scallops), kohada (gizzard shad) and hotaru ika (firefly squid). The only piece I had ever tried before was hotegai so I didn't really know what to expect. At this point, I trusted Fukashi's expertise and knew that I would enjoy each piece. The tai was really fresh and almost had a sweet taste to it. The katsuo also had a really unique flavor. I could go on and on about the fish, but it was all really tasty. I have never had fish that was this good served in sashimi or sushi in my life! I was able to try a piece of the maguro maki from my sushi bar neighbor, which is one of the few rolls they serve at Sebo. It was topped with a piece of the mebachi maguro, flavored with lemon, kaiware (daikon sprouts), avocado, sea salt and sesame oil. Absolutely delicious! Like everything else on the night, it had exactly the right flavors and mixtures of ingredients for the perfect roll.
The next dish was a complete surprise. It was a warm item, a fish head soup. Fukashi had cooked the head of a sea bream in a broth and served it in a bowl. This was something my grandma would have cooked or enjoyed; my only complaint was that there wasn't enough meat on the fish head! The meat would just slide off the bones and was really cooked to perfection. The broth matched well with the fish and the whole dish was a nice break point in the entire meal.
It was at this point that Fukashi knew I was in for the long haul and wanted to try everything he had to offer. He served up another plate of nigiri which included baby shrimp, hiramasa (yellowtail kingfish), honmaguro chutoro (medium fatty tuna) and two pieces of kasugodai (baby sea bream). The fatty tuna and baby sea bream were both phenomenal, especially the kasugodai. Each piece was slightly seared with a blow torch and flavored with lemon and sea salt. I ended my sushi journey with two more pieces of nigiri: engawa (fluke fin) and mirugai (giant clam). Both were a great way to end the night, as fresh as the first piece of sushi I had that night. The experience at Sebo was unforgettable; I really don't know if I'll ever be able to enjoy sushi again after my three hour dinner (Yes, three hours eating sushi and drinking sake!!). It is expensive and the pieces are not that big, but that's what makes it great and a "true sushi" dinner. Sushi is not meant to have sauces and creams and be covered in soy sauce. The more minimal the presentation, the more authentic the experience. Each piece was bite-size and perfectly flavored that I didn't even really need shoyu. If you are a fan of sushi and sashimi, please try Sebo in Hayes Valley. You won't be disappointed!
Monday, June 15 was a special day at Ruby Hill Golf Club. I was able to take part in a very unique event for a great cause. Kurt and Beth Thompson are part of CancerCare, an organization that donates money to cancer research, with their fundraiser being a marathon golf day. What started out as 100 holes in a day has become a passion for Kurt as he continues to top himself year after year. 
Last year, he was able to complete 301 holes in a single day, with the help of friends and family, who drove him hole-to-hole as he completed his journey before the sun set. This year, he recruited some friends to help him out. Kurt, Jeff Newton, Tim Marchi, Joe Gile and myself all played 100 holes of golf on the front nine at Ruby Hill. We started at 6 in the morning and amazingly completed all hundred holes by 12:30! There was a little wager amongst the fivesome (Ahem...we won't tell them who lost KURT!), a few errant shots, lots of running, a few "pony dances" and over 85 birdies in total! 
Having driven Kurt around the last two years, it was a lot of fun to actual get to participate this time around. And the whole event benefits cancer research, which is such an important cause to so many of us who have dealt with the disease. Overall, we all had a great time and are all looking forward to helping Kurt and Beth again next year.
