Sushi in the Sky with Diamonds...

We've already posted one entry about San Francisco food on our blog. There are probably many more to follow. Given the variety of farmers markets and little hole in the wall restaurants, that's not too surprising. We'll only write about them when we find something especially cool and exciting. Otherwise, we realize this blog will get irksome very quickly.

Take Tamasei Sushi for instance. It's in the Noe Valley, a gentrified little neighborhood at the bottom of the hill where we live. The main avenue is lined with funky little shops and restaurants. Dawn and I wandered into this tiny sushi restaurant after she finished work last Friday. It certainly isn't like any other sushi bar I've been in. The first thing we noticed was the large painting of Bob Marley. The second was the the elderly, but spry, waitress passing out menus. The third was the slightly stoned (or at least they appeared to be) sushi chefs (?) preparing nigiri and maki.

Not long after we sat down, a young latino man with a battered guitar case walked in. "The mariachi! The mariachi!" cried the old waitress. He led the man into a small room in back, and as he took at his guitar, she brought out a set of of maracas and passed one to each customer. Then the young man came out and played a Mexican (I guess) melody as we rattled our maracas and our waitress danced around the small room beating two wooden sushi boxes together. He was quite good, actually. We were happy to rattle away as he strummed his instrument. The sushi was nothing special, but then again, we can't get that sort of experience at Tokyo-Seoul or the Bleu Monkey in Syracuse.

We'll return again, and when we do, we may buy the T-shirt hanging above the kitchen which has "Sushi in the sky with diamonds..." emblazoned across the chest.