"The Elysian is a mod apartment building originally designed in the 1960s by architect William Pereira. The original LACMA campus also numbered among Pereira's projects, as did my favorite skyscraper on the planet, the TransAmerica Building in San Francisco. This one sits on a hill, overlooking Sunset Boulevard, in Victor Heights, the small neighborhood abutting Elysian Park and bordering Echo Park and Chinatown."
"I timed my drive to a lull in traffic after the start of a Dodgers game this week to visit the Elysian's new ground-floor tenant, Morihiro, and a couple major shifts the relocation brings: a walk-in cocktail bar and an a la carte component to the menu. To sushi wonks, Morihiro "Mori" Onodera needs no introduction. He arrived in Los Angeles 40 years ago this year, after training in sushi bars for a couple of years in Tokyo."
"Working at seminal L.A. sushi ground-breakers like Matsuhisa and Katsu, and running Mori Sushi in West Los Angeles for 11 years beginning in 2000, he's been a guiding hand in defining how Angelenos perceive and enjoy omakase. After a break from restaurant ownership, he returned with tiny Morihiro in Atwater Village in November 2020. Columnist Jenn Harris and I ranked it number six on the current edition of the 101 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles guide."
"Onodera has never been afraid of change. Which may be why neither Harris nor I were overly surprised at first when we heard the news sitting together at Onodera's Atwater omakase counter at the end of August (yes, researching our next edition of the 101 guide, arriving in early December). His hands forming nigiri in a finger ballet, he slipped into casual conversation that he was moving the restaurant. Our eyebrows shot up. Then he smiled mysteriously."
The Elysian is a midcentury mod apartment building on a hill in Victor Heights overlooking Sunset Boulevard, abutting Elysian Park and bordering Echo Park and Chinatown. Morihiro relocated to the Elysian, bringing a walk-in cocktail bar and an a la carte component to the menu. Chef Morihiro "Mori" Onodera arrived in Los Angeles 40 years ago after training in Tokyo, worked at Matsuhisa and Katsu, and ran Mori Sushi for 11 years. He reopened tiny Morihiro in Atwater Village in November 2020 and recruited Han Suk Cho to join the new location.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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