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Find. Eat. Drink.
Edition: 10 March, 2010
Sustainable Sushi Insider Recommendations
Bamboo Sushi

Are we loving our sushi fish to death? Over the last 40 years, the bluefin tuna population has declined by more than 80 percent and could be depleted in three years time.

Bamboo Sushi in Portland, Oregon has been deemed the number one sustainable sushi restaurant in the United States, and is tied for first position in the world. So who better than owner Kristofor Lofgren to turn to for advice on how to have your hake and eat it too.

Kristofor's first piece of advice is to think of fish like seasonal produce. There are different times of the year when eating a particular fish is better than others. e.g. winter (crab, sea urchin), late spring/early summer/fall (mackerel), spring (tuna), summer (salmon).

Don't be scared of frozen. In fact, using frozen fish reduces food waste and helps repopulation. He cites amaebi (spot prawn) as a great example of tasting better after being frozen.

Instead of ordering unagi (freshwater eel) which are from young eels that are farm raised after being captured from the wild, choose sea eel.

To help you navigate the seafood landscape, the Monterey Bay Aquarium makes recommendations on their site and has a free Seafood Watch iphone App.

Click here to see more information about the sustainable sushi at Bamboo Sushi.

Kristofor Lofgren's favorite sushi places around the world:

  • MORI
    Chef Onodera knows where every fish is from. He picks out everything himself. Never serves anything farm raised, only wild.
    www.morisushi.org
    11500 West Pico Boulevard
    Los Angeles, CA 90064
    T: 310.479.3939
  • O YA
    Sustainable sushi. A phenomenal dining experience.
    www.oyarestaurantboston.com
    9 East Street
    Boston, MA 02111
    T: 617.654.9900
  • MASUYA
    They do Japanese molecular gastronomy.
    www.masuya.com.au
    Basement Level, 12-14 O'Connell Street
    Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia
    T: +61/(0)2.9235-2717

Click here to see Kristofor's restaurant recommendations in Portland, OR.


Fish2Fork (a sustainable restaurant guide) has rated the best and worst most sustainable sushi restaurants in the US:

THE BEST

  1. Bamboo Sushi, Portland, OR
  2. Ray's Boathouse, Seattle, WA
  3. Blue Ridge, Washington, DC

THE WORST

  1. Nobu, New York, NY
  2. Bar Masa, New York, NY
  3. 15 East, New York, NY


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