Morihiro “Mori” Onodera, like the rest of us, had other plans for 2020.
The revered sushi chef a soft-spoken bespectacled figure responsible for training what seems like half of Los Angeles; sashimi specialists had left his post at the upscale Japanese spot Inn Ann in late 2019, two weeks before the restaurant closed for good.
By then Onodera had begun sketching out his next project, an intimate sushi bar in Atwater Village that would serve as a culmination of the decades he has spent mastering the craft.
He envisioned a high-end sushi counter that offered $300 omakase dinners at night. Six seats at a white oak bar. A handful of tables.