I have known Chef Osten since he was a toddler.  The family were good friends of good friends of ours and we would gather for kids’ birthday parties and the like.  More recently, his Mom and I have become close friends and I have gotten to follow his culinary pursuits from a very unique perspective-through the recounting of his proud parents.  Born into a family of creative persons, it is no surprize that Osten is a creator of art too.  Food art….my favourite kind.

I have tasted the fare from the Broadway Wasabi location as it is available at many retail outlets but I have never had the pleasure of dining there.  I always admired the courage and foresight that they opened on West Broadway way before the area began its regentrification.  I’ve also never had the experience of visiting Wasabi’s Osborne location.

So even though I can’t compare locales, Wasabi-Sabi is stunning with its soothing decor and comfortable seating.

Laura (one of my lunch dates) is my Asian food mentor-together we have created an “A” list of dim sum items, Vietnamese bowls and what little I know about Thai cuisines, she has taught me.  So I was content to sit back and let her do the selecting.

We started with a house blend of green teas which were thirst quenching and retained a nutty quality. 

Next up were the mandatory edaname beans. 

Then came Spicy Mango Prawns. Tempura shrimp and mango tossed with an unusual take on chili sauce-it was creamy.  I even ate the bed of greens and the crunchy wrapper that they were place upon.

We couldn’t get enough of the tempura shrimp and selected it again in the White Dynamite.  This time the shrimp was enhanced by avocado, spicy mayo, tobiko (fish roe), sesame seeds and sprouts.  All this was wrapped in a thin radish crepe-hence the white take on a dynamite roll.  A sushi newbie dining with us, loved the surprize of the fish eggs popping in her mouth.

Prairie Fire arrived on the same platter.  A spicy tuna, wrapped with grilled vegetables and tempura for crunch.

We could have been done at this point but my sushi mentor didn’t want me to go without the piece de resistance-East meets West.  Laura knows how much I love both lobster and salmon.  This roll is the exquisite  marriage of both spicy, succulent east coast lobster and west coast salmon.  To add sweetness and creaminess, mango and avocado are wrapped inside a soy sheet and yuzu (a citrus flavour) infused tobiko sits on top. 

To describe all the choices as delicious would be such a gross understatement.  We feasted on them with our eyes and tasted them slowly and with reverence.  Art-no other way to describe it!

 

Kath’s quote:  “All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.”-Federico Fellini

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