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FOOD NOTES 107 Sakurai, who has long been a mentor to Japanese chefs and food lovers in Dallas, says only a handful of the hundreds of restaurants serving sushi here are skilled in edomae techniques, and counts Yutaka Sushi Bistro, Teppo, and Tei Tei Robata Bar in Dallas, and Sushi Sake in Richardson among them. Nobu Dallas and Nori Handroll Bar also use edomae techniques, and recently, Namo, a handroll bar Uptown, has JASON KINDIG I f ever there were a dish made for Instagram, mosaic sushi is it. Arranged in a perfect square, each cube of pressed s u s h i b e c o m e s its own distinct tile — colorful, festive, intricately detailed with feathery herbs and delicate garnishes. The m o s a i c s h a v e b e e n a thing in Japan for a few years, and now they have arrived in Dallas, courtesy of Sushi de Handroll, a sunny Japanese restaurant specializing in temaki and tempura in The Hill development. Owner and chef Mai Takase offers two versions. One focuses on seafood, such as salmon with pickled radish and dill, broiled eel with sesame, and hamachi with jalapeño. The other version is vegan, made a bigger commitment. Namo's new chef, Jorge Dionicio, grew up with the Japanese-Peruvian Nikkei tradition in Peru, studied sushi in Japan, and worked at Sushi Azabu in New York and Uchi in Austin. He and Namo's owner Brandon Cohanim plan to open a separate omakase restaurant in the next year, showcasing edomae sushi. Until then, they are offering 21-course tasting menus on Wednesday nights. Among the preparations at Namo, Dionicio ages hirame, or flounder, for about a week — like the bluefin, wrapped in absorbed paper or plastic at first then left to air dry. Before serving, he cuts the fish, sprinkles it with citrus juice and zest, and sandwiches it between sheets of kombu seaweed for about 40 minutes. "Kombu adds a lot of umami," he says. "If you ate hirame just caught, there would be not much flavor and it would also be rubbery. Curing and aging helps to make it softer, too." Dionicio even gives live shrimp, botan ebi, a quick kombu treatment, letting the freshly peeled tails rest on sake-moistened kombu for about 20 minutes. Like other edomae sushi chefs, Dionicio simply presents them without explanation. But that too, is part of the tradition. A MOSAIC OF SUSHI but unlike much vegan sushi, Takase's version avoids manufactured seafood substitutes in favor of tangy and umami-rich vegetables that have been cured, pickled, grilled, and braised. Her shibazuke sushi, made with cucumber and eggplant marinated in plum vinegar with purple shiso, is a flavor bomb, and shiitake braised in soy and mirin with sliver of carrot packs its own soothing punch. Both the vegan and fish mosaics are a delight to behold, and to eat — and, yes, Takase will mix the styles for omnivores. "I first saw mosaic sushi online," says Takase, who was born and raised in Japan. "It was springtime, there were cherry blossoms, and it was packed into a bento box for a party." And perhaps, to inspire a moment of FOMO. Sushi de Handroll, 8041 Walnut Hill Lane, sushidehandroll.com. Michalene Busico Freshly grated wasabi at Namo Tai (sea bream) at Namo CHASE HALL Mosaic sushi at Sushi de Handroll