Mori Nozomi

Los Angeles

A female sushi chef with an all-woman team is still a rarity, even in Los Angeles, America's sushi capital, said Tejal Rao in The New York Times . "But the thrill of Mori Nozomi is in Nozomi Mori's distinct style as a chef—the way she annotates the singular focus of the omakase with some of the more complex, seasonal digressions of kaiseki and rituals of the Japanese tea ceremony."

Behind an eight-seat counter in an airy, sparsely decorated room, she proceeds serenely as soft music plays. She "carves sheer petals out of swordtip squid" and "etches her blade into the milky top of a scallop so it yields its sweetness more immediately." In this $250, two-dozen-course meal, there are no caviar bumps or torched Wagyu. "The closest thing to a show" is Mori pulling ou

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