Secret Japanese BBQ place

[Chris Cognac]

OK, I have confirmed that this place is real and I am working on a way to get a dinner seating. Its supposed to be really good, omakase beef with only 5 tables. I think this could be a worthy eG L.A. group adventure so who is in?

[russ parsons]

let me know how the plan develops and when. i'd love to if i can.

[Ore]

Where in the LA area is it??

[jschyun]

I think it's somewhere in the South Bay area, right Chris?

I'm still recovering from the last one.

[Muffin210]

Houseberg and I are totally in, if you can find a way to get a reservation!

[Chris Cognac]

Its not in the South Bay....I dont know where it it yet...I am working with Yuki from Fuji TV to set it up..I am sure she will come as well....I will have to learn the secret handshake!

[jschyun]

Its not in the South Bay....I dont know where it it yet...I am working with Yuki from Fuji TV to set it up..I am sure she will come as well....I will have to learn the secret handshake!

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Very intriguing.

[Radio7]

Oh yes....this is definitely of interest to me. When are you thinking of?

[Chris Cognac]

Heck I have to work out being allowed to eat there, so I dont know when or what day....Its all part of the secret world of the Japanese nationals out here in L.A.. We will be full on outsiders, Gaijin allowed into the inner most dining circles that we should not know exist.

So....who know's what will happen or when....but I am working on it!

[grandcru]

Hell yeah, I'm in! I'll keep an eye on the developments.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Damn! If I hadn't totalled my car over the weekend, I would have DEFINITELY driven down south for this one, regardless of the day or time.

I expect a full report! BTW, Chris, if you are "in" with Fuji Television, can you find out when the next Sumo Basho will be -- ShinSenGumi's Chunkonabe usually opens only during then and I want to come down during the next one.

Heck, maybe this secret BBQ place IS the Chunkonabe serving!!!! I never considered that...

[Chris Cognac]

My neighbors own ShenSenGumi on Western...our kids are in the same class!

The next sumo bouts are Jan 9 thru 23...

The secret place might be more secret than I thought...I am thinking they want to remain secret!

[Joe Blowe]

Is this the place you're talking about?

[Chris Cognac]

Yea....I think....My friend says there are "2" secret places in L.A.....I want to go to the less expenisve one!

[tejon]

Yea....I think....My friend says there are "2" secret places in L.A.....I want to go to the less expenisve one!

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That'd be my vote, too. Bit much for our budget, unfortunately.

[Chris Cognac]

The more expensive one is 400 bucks....man that better be some pretty damn good food for 400 bucks....I can get a short trip to Hawaii for that!

[tanabutler]

Why would you want to go to a place that people feel so private about, and protective of?

I don't get it. I mean, I get it on one level (so you can eat), but on the other hand...

You're not Japanese. (Well, those of you who aren't, aren't.)

Shouldn't their desires be respected?

[Chris Cognac]

I think we want to eat there because "its there"..plus its supposed to be pretty darn good...and for me at least...its beef, cause if it was a fish place...I wouldnt go in a million years....there is also the journalistic element to it, althought I dont think I would write about it unless I had permission from the owner...but the bottom line....is its cool...I mean how many times do you really get to go to a "secret" place!

[tanabutler]

There are secret places and then there are secret places. There are some places that you can't buy your way into, and others you can't talk your way into.

I don't think crashing their party is showing respect.

Just my thoughts.

[MaxH]

I think we want to eat there because "its there"..plus its supposed to be pretty darn good...and for me at least...its beef, cause if it was a fish place...I wouldnt go in a million years....there is also the journalistic element to it

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I am trying to remember which of the natural elements is meant in this context. Somewhere in between Unobtanium and Idunnowium?

-- Max

("Deep in the Cameroonian rain forests of West Africa there lives a floor-dwelling ant known as Megaloponera foetens..." -- Lawrence Weschler, "Inhaling the Spore," Harper's Magazine, September 1994 pp. 47-58.)

[Chris Cognac]

There are secret places and then there are secret places. There are some places that you can't buy your way into, and others you can't talk your way into.

I don't think crashing their party is showing respect.

Just my thoughts.

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Well...we could not be crashing any party and we will show the utmost respect for being allowed to eat there. We will also be dining with Japanese nationals who are my friends that go there. You seem to think that we are just going to find out where this place is and bash the door down, come on give me a little credit I am not a complete bumbling moron with no sophistication or etiquite.

[tanabutler]

I think we want to eat there because "its there"..plus its supposed to be pretty darn good...and for me at least...its beef, cause if it was a fish place...I wouldnt go in a million years....there is also the journalistic element to it

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I am trying to remember which of the natural elements is meant in this context. Somewhere in between Unobtanium and Idunnowium?

-- Max

("Deep in the Cameroonian rain forests of West Africa there lives a floor-dwelling ant known as Megaloponera foetens..." -- Lawrence Weschler, "Inhaling the Spore," Harper's Magazine, September 1994 pp. 47-58.)

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You fonny, MaxH.

[grandcru]

Why would you want to go to a place that people feel so private about, and protective of?

I don't get it.  I mean, I get it on one level (so you can eat), but on the other hand...

You're not Japanese. (Well, those of you who aren't, aren't.)

Shouldn't their desires be respected?

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Just genuinely curious here, Tana. Would you ask the same of a group of Japanese who wanted to attend an expat American restaurant in Japan?

[tanabutler]

I am assuming the privacy is cultivated for a reason. I cannot be certain of the reason, but I am questioning the desire to intrude (though clearly Chris doesn't perceive what he's doing as any kind of intrusion). I haven't heard of a private club for Americans (ex pats or otherwise) in Japan, so I can't think in hypothetical terms. It's an interesting exercise to think in terms of equations, when I don't think equations exactly exist.

Would you question a bunch of guys who (hypothetically) wanted to crash an all-woman's culinary club? (I definitely would. Sometimes people just want to be with people like themselves, however/whatever they determine that to be.) I likewise roll my eyes at women who want to go smoke cigars in men's clubs. Jeez: let them have their space! Mingle at co-ed bars.

I'm all about building bridges and sharing cultures, and not about exclusivity and xenophobia. However, I think it is important for people who want to preserve certain pieces of pure culture to do so, as long as we're not talking about the KKK.

My friend lived in Japan for fourteen years. He became a highly-skilled Japanese translator. He encountered an odd kind of prejudice, which he explained to me thus: no one could believe that he was, well, American. His Japanese on the phone was so impeccable that it was assumed he was Japanese. When he showed up (all 6'4" of him, very Western in appearance), they were astonished. As he put it, "It's as though I were a talking monkey. The Japanese assume only they can speak the language perfectly."

I don't know what assumptions I have made regarding why they want their place "secret," but my tendency is to respect that. I don't question it that much. It's their place. They built it. It's not a whites-only public school, but a private club where they want to relax. Perhaps the presence of English-speaking people would not be conducive to relaxation? That's my thinking.

[jschyun]

I trust that Chris will not lead us astray. But it still might be a good idea to double-check with the Japanese friends that are inviting us, and make sure everything is okay. Also, since this is a public forum, if privacy is really an issue, but they still want us, perhaps we can email each other for this event.