So we crashed the place after I crashed Stephen's Art After Dark Party where Boyfriend & I presented Stephen and his husband Todd with Save the Cocks! t-shirts. You can read about the fun HERE. We had so much fun and had to continue the party, so I finally got the chance to go to RAKU - yay! I've been wanting to go, ever since they opened.
So here we arrive, and Stephen orders us lots of sake and beer to have before we go in. They actually have a pyramid flame, lighting the outside - how cool is that?
Ooo - the Kirren and hot sake were FABULOUS! I had so much fun sitting outside in San Luis on a Friday night - I felt like a very lucky girl.
Our table was ready inside but before we stepped in the front door, I had to get a shot of Stephen in front of his masterpiece:
We walked in. OMG - this place is AMAZING! Totally gorgeous - it sets quite the scene. Can I eat here every lunch & dinner, please? For example, here's the art piece that is the background to the main sushi bar. It's of a tiger and dragon fighting - how gorgeous is that?
Wow. Simply fabulous.
So the backstory: Tony, the owner of RAKU, had RAKU in Grover Beach but wanted to move it to SLO. Stephen used to go to the sushi bar in Grover Beach and thru kismet & common sense, became the one to design the new sushi bar. RAKU means fun in Japanese and my god, did we have fun that night! Fabulous sushi at a reasonable price in a gorgeous setting: who could ask for anything more????
We had waited for a booth so that Stephen could show me the sexy snakeskin fabric. No worries, no snakes were harmed in the making of these booths as they are all plether. But isn't it cool - sexy metallic red & black that sparkles in the low light? Here's Stephen looking sexy, showing it off:
And here's Todd - though you can hardly see him! But what you can see is the fabulous ceiling of umbrellas and lights hanging down - too fun:
Onto the food: Stephen just starts ordering things as he knows the menu and can order the best of the best. Thank you, my dear man. Anytime I go there I will call you for an ordering consultation - everything was exquisite.
We started off with regular edamame which was great, but then moved to spicy/sauteed edamame which was INSANE! Good god - who thought of this! SO good. I'm craving it now as I write this.
We then shared huge bowls of miso soup: REAL miso soup that is actually good for you. That could have been a meal unto itself.
Then comes the sashimi. The salmon was out of this world! I couldn't stop eating it (sorry Stephen!) My god, it just melted in your mouth.
Then roll after roll after roll arrived: I couldn't keep track. Everything was so good - I think I ate until the point where my tummy burst!
Ooo - what's that? There were bottles of volka lit up on the sushi bar. Stephen said, "We're experimenting to see if we want to an exotic martini bar." Hell, yes! I'm up for that! So Stephen brought over one of the vodlka bottles to show me it up close. He lit it all up with his iphone - ingenious :)
What a cool shot! What I'm happy about the most though is that Stephen and I talked about lemon drops, my new favotite drink. He said that he can make an AMAZING lemon drop: Stephen, I'm holding you to it! Let me know when I can come over... and if I can crash the night...ahem.......
Here's Stephen and I all happy with tummies bursting from fabulous food:
And here's a photo of Boyfriend & Todd who laughed it up all night, talking about everything from Save the Cocks! to other things that Stephen and I couldn't understand. As long as the boys were having fun, we were all happy :)
So lucky me, as the night got later and later, Tony the owner decided to hang out with us a bit. All I did was RAVE about his food - I'm his new #1 fan. Here's a hilarious photo of Todd, Tony & Stephen - with Tony being the jokester of the group:
I told Tony his food was like crack - RAKU Crack! Or else it was like ecstasy which made me insanely happy. Either way, I'm totally addicted, after just one dinner. Get your ass over there stat! You won't regret it. It's sushi of a lifetime.
And if you see Stephen & Todd while you are there, please yell, "Save the Cocks!" at them for me, please :)
Ahem. I need to go there tomorrow @ 7am and wait in line till they open. Yeah, it's that good.
RAKU Japanese Sushi Bar
857 Higuera Street
San Luis Obispo
805.544.7258
http://rakuusa.com
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