‘First bite, you’ll know the difference:’ Chef born in Japan opens new Boise restaurant

A new “premium sushi experience” has opened, Boise — specializing in delivery and takeout.

With “only the highest-grade fish flown in fresh daily from around the world,” Omakase Sushi made its debut Wednesday. The restaurant offers zero dine-in options — which, fortuitously, is what Central District Health strongly recommends right now. Omakase is one of three new Crave Delivery partners launched this week. It’s part of an army of virtual kitchens at the Crave Collective at Ten Mile Crossing in Meridian.

“Premium sushi” “The highest-grade fish”? Sounds delectable, Crave. That said, experienced diners have learned to take loaded marketing language with a grain of sea salt.

There’s only one way to truly know. The tasty way. And you can save a few bucks now through Nov. 24. Omakase is offering $10 off orders with the promo code “OMAKASE10.”

Omakase Sushi might not have the same rock-star chef’s pedigree as Michael Mina’s Tokyo Hot Chicken or even Tony Gemignani’s Tony G’s Pizza at Crave. But Ichiro “Jake” Takao, the chef behind Omakase, has a background that will tempt any Idaho sushi fiend to fire up the Crave Delivery app.

Plus, Takao works at his restaurant. He moved to Idaho. He’s Omakase’s head sushi chef, leading a team of six.

“Chef Ichiro was born in Osaka, known as ‘the kitchen of Japan,’ ” a media release says, “then moved to a nearby seaside town of Kushimoto, which is where his lifelong culinary journey began. Starting as a teen in the kitchen of his family’s 400-seat oceanfront restaurant, he worked long hours observing the best of what each of his chef parent’s skills could offer.

“Chef Ichiro was trained in the Western Japanese style of sushi, known as ‘Osaka Style’ and known for its tenderness, natural balance of sweet and spicy and a rich depth of flavors. This training, along with the nostalgic connection to his seaside past and his love for the flavors of Hawaiian tuna, Fijian albacore and Japanese yellowtail, drew his focus into an elevated style of top-grade sushi here in the U.S.

“From running his own premium sushi restaurants in Los Angeles to consulting on several sushi offerings, Chef Ichiro is excited to bring his passion and talents to the Crave Collective. Put your trust in the master chef and he promises that ‘In the first bite, you’ll know the difference!’ ”

The Omakase menu offers three fixed mixtures ($28, $48 and $68) containing nigiri, sashimi and rolls, plus three customer-choice boxes ($17, $21, $29) of nigiri, sashimi and rolls. Or take the “Omakase” route ($55 per person), which mean’s “chef’s choice.” Specialties also are available a la carte, whether it’s edamame ($6) or king crab sunomono ($28).

Crave recommends that you order in advance from Omakase, because of limited daily sushi availability.

Crave Delivery service costs $4.99 and can include orders from multiple Crave eateries. The Crave fleet transports food to customers in Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Nampa, Caldwell, Kuna and Star.