Shoji Sushi: Shin’s Last Supper

As some of you may have heard, Shoji's Master Sushi Chef Shingo Inoue (or Shin-san, as he is commonly known), is moving to New York. For those of you in the City, I will advise once I know where Shin is going to work--he hasn't yet decided. Shin has been feeding me top-quality fish at Shoji for the past five years. No one else in town provides things like trigger fish with liver, wild buri, copper river salmon, sea snail, and live river crabs. Where else can you sit at the counter and engage the sushi chef about the six different kinds of Tuna he happens to have on hand, why the blue fin toro from Italy is so perfectly fatty, why you might like the tuna from Panama better than the tuna from Ecuador (the water temperature is a factor), or why you should have come in for the BABY blue fin toro last week because now it is unavailable? Never mind that, who else would kill a live lobster with chef's knife and slice up the tail right in front of you to make lobster sashimi (highly, highly recommended).
Shin's last night at the restaurant was at the end of July. Of course the Baron was there, for The Last Supper. In honor of the occasion, the Baron let Shin set the menu:

Octopus two ways. Braised octopus tentacles with cucumber; sliced live octopus ceviche with lemon, sea salt, bell peppers, onion, and cilantro;

Tuna nigiri: Blue fin tuna from Spain (ruby red, supple, impeccable); Blue fin toro from Italy (fatty, rich, sublime);

Japanese Aji nigiri and Saba nigiri;

Octopus tentacles tempura (actually just the suction cups from the tentacles, tempura-fried and served with lemon and sea salt);

Japanese sea urchin sushi. Most people shy away from uni but Shin's is flown in from Japan and it literally tastes like the ocean. Clean, sweet, and just a hint of brine.

Orange clam "muscle" with asparagus in a lobster bisque/Jack Daniels reduction--the muscle from giant orange clams sliced up and placed alongside baby asparagus in a sauce a miso, lobster bisque, Jack Daniels, soy and who knows what else. When asked about the ingredients Shin just said that "lots of things" went in the saucepot. Outstanding.

The Jerry-san roll. The Baron was seated next to Jerry (last name unknown) who was obviously a kindred fan of the raw stuff. Apparently Jerry was such a frequent customer that he had his own roll, and I wish I had known about this sooner. Tuna, hamachi, avocado, hot sauce, rice, and tempura flakes wrapped in an outside layer of cucumber. Reminiscent of the House Special Roll at Nobu, but better.

Steamed sea eel temaki with avocado. The "ice cream cone." An eel handroll is always a good way to finish because it is sweet and seems like dessert.

Shin will be missed. While there is other good sushi on South Beach, nothing measures up to the quality and exoticism of Shin’s preparations. Nobu’s sushi is fine, but Nobu’s strength is in the prepared dishes, such as rock shrimp tempura in creamy spicy sauce, black cod in miso, and lobster in black bean sauce. Bond Street Lounge has an excellent spicy tuna roll, but the dining room is far from comfortable, and the preparations do not hew to traditional Japanese styles and ingredients. There is a heavy emphasis on rolls accompanied by sauces. Toni’s sushi is still decent, but far from stellar. The Baron will continue to monitor Shoji in the post-Shin era to determine how the restaurant holds up.