Fuji

[dagordon]

Had yet another unbelievable meal at Fuji last night, what will be our second-to-last, at least at its present location. Matt is closing on the 20th, not the end of the month -- it sounds like this is a recent development. We're going back next week.

Some highlights of the meal:

Bone marrow over a rice cake, served on top of a small cup containing a delicious green soup with a small swirl of cream. There must have been pea in there, but, as sometimes happens at Fuji, I really have no idea what I was tasting. The waitress seemed to suggest that it was fairly complicated, but contained uni, among other things.

Seared foie gras over seared scallop, what I think was a soy-balsamic reduction, with mountain berries

Oysters -- they looked like Kumamotos, but may have been the Pacific Orchard Oysters others have mentioned. Truly amazing.

And, of course, the sushi. Matt was really busy last night so, for the first time, our sushi was prepared by Chen. We've always sort of felt bad when we sit at the sushi bar, right in front of Chen, and Matt has to had our fish to Chen, who puts it in front of us.

Well, Chen is not only extremely talented, but also a very nice guy. The sushi he prepared was as good as ever, with many of the preparations echoing things that Matt has done before (he has had a good teacher). And after he saw my g/f having to bite a piece of sushi in half, every subsequent piece came pre sliced in half.

Among other things, Fuji continues to have simply the best salmon ever. Matt does cure it -- he said he was surprised when he first came to the US and found people serving fresh salmon, as this is considered taboo in Japan. It should always be cured, he said, if only b/c of the possibility of parasites. Anyway, it's not only the texture of the salmon that is amazing; it has a richness of flavor that's unlike any other salmon sushi or sashimi I've had.

So, we've only been going to Fuji for a couple of years now, and I was almost moved to tears when Matt started talking about closing and said something like "27 years, I can't believe it." It sounds like it's been a rough year for him.

This is someone who is at the very top of his craft, with customers who adore him, and he's having to close against his will. It makes me never want to eat again. Well, maybe that's a bit extreme...

[john b]

We had our R.I.P dinner at Fuji tonight. As usual, everything was great. My wife and I shared a plate of six Kumamotos, the almond crusted shrimp dumplings (I could eat these all night), a lot of sushi (including the most rich and buttery toro I've ever had), pan seared sea bass with chanterelles, and my favorite dessert, the tempura fried banana.

A little bird told us that they'll be moving to Haddonfield and opening in a few months.

[skinik]

Does anyone have plans for a RIP dinner Saturday or Sunday? Or would anyone be interested in making such plans?

They are sold out for Sunday and it is probably too late to organize for tonight, so I guess it will have to wait until they relocate.

But, if anyone has reservations and could add one person (me), let me know.

Edited August 19, 2006 by skinik (log)

[potterstreet]

fuji's website says they are moving to haddonfield, which thrills us to bits because we live within walking distance, but i keep checking on the space (in the rear of the haddonfield mini-mall) and nothing appears to be happening. last week someone else told me they were going to collingswood. anyone got any definitive scoop?

[VictorFiorillo]

They are "hoping" for a Valentine's Day opening in Haddonfield.

fuji's website says they are moving to haddonfield, which thrills us to bits because we live within walking distance, but i keep checking on the space (in the rear of the haddonfield mini-mall) and nothing appears to be happening. last week someone else told me they were going to collingswood. anyone got any definitive scoop?

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[chowfun]

I heard that Matt is making sushi in Manhatten temporarily.

[dagordon]

I heard that Matt is making sushi in Manhatten temporarily.

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where???

[Buckethead]

does anyone have the latest on Fuji's new location? Last I heard he was going to be opening in March 2007, but the month's almost gone and I've heard nothing. Haddonfield's website lists it as opening 'winter 2007'.

[KatieLoeb]

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! When I saw this thread resurrected I turned into a little kid bouncing up and down in the back seat saying "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?"

No news is BAD news. <sobbing>

[dagordon]

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!  When I saw this thread resurrected I turned into a little kid bouncing up and down in the back seat saying "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?"

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Me too!! Buckethead, you suck.

[Capaneus]

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!  When I saw this thread resurrected I turned into a little kid bouncing up and down in the back seat saying "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?"

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Me too!! Buckethead, you suck.

←

From Klein's TableTalk, 2/22/07:

"Matt Ito is saying "late March/early April" for the opening of Fuji at 116 E. Kings Highway in Haddonfield. Ito won waves at Fuji's previous incarnation in Cinnaminson, which closed in August because its blighted strip mall was razed."

So we're just hitting the sweetspot now. Be cool, fools.

[alwang]

Hot damn, is that good news. My omakase at Fuji was considerably more memorable than any other Japanese meal I've had in the area, including Morimoto.

Now all I need is an announcement about StudioKitchen reopening.

[KatieLoeb]

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!  When I saw this thread resurrected I turned into a little kid bouncing up and down in the back seat saying "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?"

←

Me too!! Buckethead, you suck.

←

From Klein's TableTalk, 2/22/07:

"Matt Ito is saying "late March/early April" for the opening of Fuji at 116 E. Kings Highway in Haddonfield. Ito won waves at Fuji's previous incarnation in Cinnaminson, which closed in August because its blighted strip mall was razed."

So we're just hitting the sweetspot now. Be cool, fools.

←

**Happy Dance**

Better now.

[MarketStEl]

Much better! I can hop on PATCO and be there in no time.

I'm sure there will be an excursion?

[john b]

I'm going to try to do some "recon" on Friday, since the new location is dangerously close to work. Having it close to home (its original location) was better, but it'll be very convenient for lunch now.

[herbacidal]

Are we sure that it will be open for lunch?

Edited March 28, 2007 by herbacidal (log)

[Capaneus]

Are we sure that it will be open for lunch?

←

We're not even sure it'll be open, period.

[john b]

I didn't make it over to Fuji's new location today (couldn't pass up a free lunch at Siri's ), but I did hear that there was a fire in one of the stores in the mall where Fuji is supposed to be opening, which closed a few places down (I don't know for how long). I don't know if this will have any effect on the new Fuji spot.

[herbacidal]

Are we sure that it will be open for lunch?

←

We're not even sure it'll be open, period.

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Some (okay maybe one) of us are sure it'll be open for business by the end of the year.

[rockhopper]

Are we sure that it will be open for lunch?

←

We're not even sure it'll be open, period.

←

Some (okay maybe one) of us are sure it'll be open for business by the end of the year.

←

I live in Haddonfield so I'm happy about it being right here - a .4 mile walk for me.

There was a fire right next to where they are building the restaurant 2 weeks ago.

It might delay the opening. I'll post when I get the opening date.

[cinghiale]

According to Table Talk, the opening is "April 17" (don't know why Klein put the date in quotes -- maybe the fire?).

[Capaneus]

According to Table Talk, the opening is "April 17" (don't know why Klein put the date in quotes -- maybe the fire?).

←

I believe it was just because he was quoting Matt. Not really necessary, but I think that was all it was, not to denote uncertainty.

[dagordon]

According to Table Talk, the opening is "April 17" (don't know why Klein put the date in quotes -- maybe the fire?).

←

I believe it was just because he was quoting Matt. Not really necessary, but I think that was all it was, not to denote uncertainty.

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oh no, http://www.fujirestaurant.com no longer loads. i'm getting a bad feeling about this...

Edited April 6, 2007 by dagordon (log)

[lfabio2007]

Hm. This is what I get from WHOIS:

Registrant:

Fuji Restaurant

404 Rt. 130 North

Cinnaminson, NJ 08077

US

Domain Name: FUJIRESTAURANT.COM

Administrative Contact:

ITO, MASAHARU fujimatt@EROLS.COM

ITO, MASAHARU

404 US RT. 130 NORTH

CINNAMINSON, NJ 08077

US

(609) 829-5211 fax: 999 999 9999

Technical Contact:

RCN abuse@RCN.COM

105 Carnegie Center

Princeton, NJ 08540

US

800-746-4726 fax: 999 999 9999

Record expires on 04-Nov-2008.

Record created on 05-Nov-1998.

Database last updated on 6-Apr-2007 12:42:35 EDT.

[brucedelta]

Actually the whois does not mean much in this context, it just says who owns the domain.

In this case the web page is gone because there are no A record pointers to the domain. If I look up fujirestaurant.com (shown below) there are only NS (nameserver) records. Email would be delivered to a MX record, and we see none, so the domain can not accept email. A web page shoes as an A record, again none found so no web page.

Basic interpretation is that there is a valid registered domain parked at RCN. Assuming the domain worked recently, then someone removed the records, possibly for a rebuild of the site or to change web designers.

Bottom line is this all means nothing, and face it if I were atempting to open a restaurant in less than 30 days, I doubt the website would be top priority.

-- Bruce

DNS Report for fujirestaurant.com

Generated by www.DNSreport.com at 17:20:04 GMT on 06 Apr 2007.

MX FAIL MX Category ERROR: I couldn't find any MX records for fujirestaurant.com. If you want to receive E-mail on this domain, you should have MX record(s). Without any MX records, mailservers should attempt to deliver mail to the A record for fujirestaurant.com. I can't continue in a case like this, so I'm assuming you don't receive mail on this domain.

Mail FAIL Connect to mail servers ERROR: I could not find any mailservers for fujirestaurant.com.

WWW FAIL WWW Category ERROR: I couldn't find any A records for www.fujirestaurant.com. But I did find a referral to master.dns.rcn.net. (and maybe others). If you want a website at www.fujirestaurant.com, you will need an A record for www.fujirestaurant.com. If you do not want a website at www.fujirestaurant.com, you can ignore this error.

Edited April 6, 2007 by brucedelta (log)