Jared S.
Yelp
We have tried. So many times, we have tried to eat here and have a good experience, but I think it is time for this restaurateur and former head chef of fine dining Japanese restaurants to admit that he has lost his passion and interest in persisting with this restaurant. The food here has generally been hit or miss over the years we've been coming here, but lately it's just all sad, stale, soggy, microwaved, bland, and awful. We've had the ramen, udon, karaage, fried noodles, appetizers, and other items over the years. Sometimes it has been good, but other times... less so.
Our most recent experience, yesterday, involved a few sushi items from the dinner menu on our way out to enjoy our evening. What a massive disappointment. My wife's spectrum of sushi is pretty broad (I usually eat vegetarian sushi, so I'm less useful in that space). She's dined in one of the famous 8 seat top rated spots in Tsukiji Market in Tokyo, with fresh and appropriately aged cuts of the finest products right there in the most famous fish market on the planet (before the fish market moved across town), but also can legitimately enjoy a roll from Konbinis, or even from Sprouts or Whole Foods refrigerator sections here in the US, not to mention the whole spectrum of decent sushi-focused restaurants in between. Excellence is obvious to her, because she has had it, but she speaks kindly of a chef putting in effort out of love for sushi. She would sincerely eat sushi every day if she could. So, for her to feel how soulless, uninspired, bland, and awful this sushi was comes from a place of loving sushi so much and having experienced a broad spectrum of what is possible in the form. Sincerely, while my wife and I ate, it was like we could taste the chef/owner of Jimotti's disappointment in how the restaurant has gone for him, how much of a burden it had all become. The rice was flavorless (overcooked, no sense of vinegar, or at least we couldn't taste it), and it was mushy. The vegetables looked like they had been frozen or in a can (they had that "overdone" translucent pale quality, and tasted just as limp and dead as they looked). The avocado, actually well selected and fresh, was present... which is about all you could say for it. The tuna itself was "okay," I hear, so no blame on the fish. As for the rest, though, no care or attention was put into seasoning, no salt, no umami, no sweetness, no attempt made to elevate anything. It's a subtle art, sure, and if I didn't think this chef was capable of it, maybe it would be less disappointing and depressing. There was no depth, no vibrancy. It was, rather, constructed like a book shelf might be by a person who doesn't read.
I get the move - if volume is down, some chefs find cheaper ingredients and convince themselves the local patrons don't have the palate to tell the difference. This is what inflexible and passionless chefs do, and it usually ensures regulars stop coming and first timers don't return. Sadly, at Jimotti, there are no more corners left to cut, and unless this chef has another plan or other tricks up his sleeve, I can't see where else he can go with this place but down and closed. This chef, whose other less-than-charming ability to interact with patrons directly is documented here on Yelp, will, I hope, throw in the towel and figure out another plan.
The servers here have always been nice and we will always tip a server for their work. Honestly, no complaint there. It's just the food.
I get that when you're having hard times you just do what you have to do, but so much of what is going badly here seems to be in the decline of a once promising chef who walked away from a career at the head of a kitchen to strike out on his own and couldn't handle the realities of what ownership has meant. I've seen this restaurant listed for sale before on either Craigslist or Nextdoor (can't remember which) by the owner. Midnight regrets will lead to some desperate choices.
I hope for his family that he can find passion and interest again, maybe with another restaurant, perhaps as a chef for an owner who can take care of and manage the things this person cannot and give him the space to bring forward his talent and the soulful flavor of West Japan.