I just saw "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" last night in San Francisco, at a special showing with the director of the film David Gelb. What a perfect film for a foodie — a respectful and elegant portrait of a master chef Jiro Ono and his stern but loving relationship with his two sons. The cinematographer did these luscious slow shots of sushi on plates that framed perfectly these little works of art.
Warning: don't see this movie if you don't have good sushi immediately available near you. Otherwise you will leave with a powerful craving for sushi and nowhere to go! My cousin Romelle, his girlfriend Cynthia and I headed to Sanraku, which thankfully is open late, to get our hunger satiated.
Obviously not anywhere near the beautiful gems of deliciousness that Chef Jiro must make at his humble sushi spot in Tokyo. But close enough!
I lived in Japan for four years and fell in love with everything Japanese, especially sushi. I saw the trailer on Apple TV and heard a good segment on NPR. I can already tell that this will be an excellent documentary. The passion for perfection and quality in making sushi is a good reflection of Japanese work ethic and culture. After coming back to the states, it is hard to find that same passion in people save for the large cities such as NY and SF.