Oh Yeah Ozumo!

Many Bay Area food bloggers were invited to the 2nd Annual Bay Area Bloggers Picnic ("BABP") this last Saturday, and it was a party to end all parties!

Unfortunately, due to a traumatic last minute change in plans, Passionate Eater was a "no show." To help me to ease the sorrows and the hunger pangs of missing the (food blogger) party-of-the-year (which I had planned for over two months in advance), my beau brought me out with a group of great friends to Ozumo, a place I endearingly call "the Bay Area's Nobu" or at least "this Bay Area Blogger's Belief of What Nobu Tastes Like." (As a treat for me, my beau picked up our share of the bill which ended up being over $85 bucks for the both of us. What a sweetheart! I love you beau!)

The entire day on Saturday, I reassured myself that it was okay that I missed the BABP, but I was stunned with the pictures from the event that were uploaded early that evening. You can see the remarkable spread potluck dishes from BABP here.

Wow.

Well, given that feast, please bear with me as I quickly recite and show pictures of our meal at Ozumo:

We dined on rainbow roll made with chilled slices of tuna, hamachi, salmon, and butterflied shrimp wrapped snugly over a tubular California roll; dragon roll made with blankets of grilled unagi and of avocado over sushi rice and tempura shrimp;

California roll stuffed with creamy slices of ripe avocado and a mixture made of delicate flakes of snow crab moistened with a mayonnaise binding-agent;

Dohyo, or an ahi tuna tartare made with cubes of supple ahi tuna on top of a luscious avocado cream, and curds of cheese-like tofu. The tartare was served with deep-fried gyoza chips and boat-shaped endive leaves (to use as scoops);

Futago, or thin slices beef tenderloin gently hugging tiny mounds of sauteed spinach and Japanese eggplant, and drizzled with a miso sesame sauce;

Kaiso, or a chilled salad, made with three varieties of Northern Japanese seaweed and dressed in a sanbai-su sauce;

A platter of sashimi, including tuna (marguro), wild salmon (sake), yellow tail (hamachi), and sweet prawn (amaebi);

Gyu-kakuni, or tender slow-braised shortribs and thin slices daikon in a miso-veal reduction; and finally, a good ole'...

Tempura roll, filled with with crunchy-fried tempura shrimp, cucumber, taiware, and tobiko.

(That post was an easy one, because all I did was post pictures and plagarize the sushi descriptions from the menu! I gotta do that more often!)

In closing, for lavish celebrations (courtesy of the corporate company or for a great friend), I would highly recommend Ozumo. The fish is fresh and high quality, and the servers are attentive and kind. But for the lower-income crowd's daily sushi fare, my advice: stick to the authentic sushi hole-in-the-wall in Daly City where none of the chefs (or servers) speak English.

My thoughts on BABP? I also highly recommend going! (Look at that food!)