Wednesday, September 05, 2007
O Ya? Gee Whiz!
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Sometimes fusion food can be like a circus in your mouth, where tastes appear and jump around, catch you on the side of your mouth, and get you again on the way down. But the food at O Ya, which has been referred to as Japanese/fusion, is more akin to modern dance. Like Martha Graham, this food is smooth and well choreographed, every nuance carefully thought out.
Kumamoto oyster sashimi comes with tiny, perfect ponzu-marinated watermelon pearls and a cucumber mignonette. Conversation stops as your taste buds begin their out-of-this-world trip. Warm eel (but wait, I don’t like eel!) with Thai basil and a slightly thick, syrupy sauce called kabayaki, creates a “what’s going on?” kind of experience, which is due to Kyoto sansho, Japanese prickly ash leaves. Who would have guessed?
The not-to-be-missed dish is foie gras nigiri. The menu reads “with balsamic chocolate kabayaki and raisin cocoa pulp.” It is accompanied by a tiny glass of 8-year-old aged sake, which perfectly complements the dark, smooth, slightly sweet sauce with miniscule bits of texture that I dreamt about later.
The vast menu is divided into nigiri, sashimi and vegetable dishes. A grilled “sashimi” of chanterelle and shiitake mushrooms with rosemary garlic oil and sesame froth and bits of sesame brittle will allow your mouth to dance with mushrooms like it’s never done before. There’s a kurobuta pork section, a wagyu beef section, poulet rouge chicken and “other stuff,” including an onsen egg with dashi sauce, truffle salt and homemade pickled garlic that floats in a hot bath the same temperature as the famed Japanese hot springs. It is like no egg you’ve ever eaten.
Nothing about O Ya is expected, which allows the diner to explore and discover time and time again. The name roughly translates from Japanese as gee whiz, a giggly expression of wonder. Even the background music, which runs the gamut from the Beatles to early British surfy twang to spacey instrumentals catches you off guard.
Then there’s the locale. Tucked into East Street, around the corner from some more familiar Leather District restaurants, there’s an “are we in the right place?” kind of feeling. But it is curious and inviting, and entering O Ya gives you a strong sense of discovery. Not to mention the feel of being “in on” something.
Chef/owner Tim Cushman, with wife Nancy (who is a sake sommelier and runs the front of the small house), is responsible for this experience. They have worked toward this restaurant opening for years. Cushman apprenticed with sushi master Nobu Matsuhisa at Matsuhisa Restaurant in Beverly Hills in 1988. The Berklee College of Music graduate had moved to LA for the music scene, but needed to pay the rent. Later, Cushman moved to Chicago and worked in the corporate restaurant business of Lettuce Entertain You, which led him to stints cooking in Japan, Bangkok, Thailand, Hong Kong and Paris. “But I always had opening my own place in mind,” he says. He met Nancy in Chicago, and a career move for her brought them back to Massachusetts (Cushman is originally from Millis).
Cushman had been mentally assembling his own menu over all his years of cooking and consulting. To create O Ya, he and Nancy went through about 700 different ideas, rated them, meticulously measured ingredients using a jeweler’s scale and arrived at the current selection.
After 2-1/2 years of looking, the couple found their current location. It had been a firehouse 95 years ago. More recently it was a makeshift office building, but it had the feel of a contemporary Japanese tavern, which was what Cushman wanted. Recycled chestnut, maple and pine from barns in New Hampshire and Vermont create the interior, and there’s a cedar wall at the back of the banquette. Shoji screens light up, which emulate the Japanese inn theme.
The host stand is also made from old barn boards, and includes a tiny hole where moss grows (which is watered regularly). Seventy to 80 percent of the dishes are handmade and from Japan (which means they must be hand-washed). The sake cups are made by Claudia’s Sculpture in Cambridge; the couple’s personal collection of eclectic chopstick rests dance around the long L-shaped bar and tables, which provide about 40 seats.
There are many more nuances to explore. Just come with your credit card and an adventurous dining partner, and you will discover them for yourself. O Ya may presume a giggle, but it’s dead-on serious stuff.
O Ya, 9 East Street, Boston 617-654-9900, no valet parking
Photos by Media Next
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