It’s 7:30 on a Tuesday night, and 20 people are waiting to get into WaSa Sushi and Japanese Restaurant.
Good sign.
They’re chatting happily outside in the winter chill of a shopping center parking lot in Irvine, Orange County, Calif. No grousing about the wait, just lots of chatter about the dining experience that awaits.
Another good sign.
Businessman Bronnie Lee and chef James Hamamori have a hit with their “new generation” sushi houses in Irvine and Newport Beach. They’re places that stand out in Orange County’s crowded sushi world. (The pair are also behind restaurants with the WaSa name in Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Niguel).
For fans, it’s the novelty of what Hamamori’s doing with sushi and other Japanese fare that defines the appeal. And for some detractors who sampled the food with me, it’s the novelty of what he’s doing with sushi and other Japanese fare.
That novelty comes to life with the “WaSa Treasures,” a list of 16 plates that take two-piece sushi servings and fuse them with sharp, saucy flavors. That is melded with a tradition-stocked sushi bar and a host of intriguing cold and hot appetizers and dinner entrees.
That Tuesday night, I grabbed four of the treasures at carry-out and hustled them home. I loved all four — ahi tuna in wasabi sour cream, smoked salmon with ginger sauce, seared yellowtail with jalape