Meet Chef Shunji

Shunji is the playground of Shunji Nakao, a slender, gray-haired chef with the bearing of a patriarch in an old Ozu movie, a master who has commanded a following among local sushi fanatics for decades. He was one of the three original chefs at Matsuhisa, the Beverly Hills counter that spawned an international raw-fish empire. He founded the sashimi-intensive Asanebo, long famous among aficionados as the no-sushi sushi bar, which is still one of the best Japanese restaurants in town. He served short but significant terms at the Hump and at Tengu in Santa Monica. He was chef at a West Hollywood sushi bar also called Shunji before he left to open here in the chili bowl. The chili bowl feels like home.