Kyoto

Restaurant Review

Anecdotes & Analysis

Summertime is sushi time. Japanese restaurants provide a wider array of cool (in both senses of the word) things to eat It's cold food than any other kind of eatery. It's light, too. Even the cup of soup is usually a little tepid, making the entire experience refreshing when the heat is on. That's something we can all agree on. Here's something we can't: which are the best sushi purveyors around town. Even the bad ones (and there are not many of those) have adherents who declare as self-evident that their place is supreme. Kyoto Uptown is one of the good ones, and has an unusually large following. [caption id="attachment_20474" align="alignnone" width="399"] Special rolls.[/caption]

Why It's Essential

Lots of sushi bars are Uptown, where lots of sushi eaters live. Kyoto has particular appeal to many of them, because in a time when even sushi bars seem to be slipping into slick formulas, this place still has a personality and a uniquely Uptown look. The menu is above average both in its selection and its goodness. You get not just sushi, tempura, and teriyaki dishes but also some grilled, barbecued, noodle, and vegetarian dishes in significant number. [caption id="attachment_20472" align="alignnone" width="400"] Tuna tataki.[/caption]

Backstory

Sara Molony was the first woman to open a sushi bar in New Orleans, as far as I know. That's noteworthy, because of the old Japanese prohibition (now discredited) against female sushi chefs. She opened the place in 1995 to a quickly enthusiastic audience. In 2009 she opened a second location in Elmwood.

Dining Room

Kyoto occupies an old Uptown storefront, and so feels like a standard New Orleans neighborhood cafe. It's a bit run down, a quality it shares with all of its restaurant neighbors. (It's in the middle of a knot of good restaurants.) None of the tables or even the sushi bar itself seem to fit quite right in the space. The regulars consider this part of the charm.

For Best Results

Allow enough time to go through the menu of rolls. As in most places, this is mainly a process of eliminating the 90 percent with snow crab as an ingredient. Also as in most places, it helps to engage the friendship of the sushi chefs, and asking what's especially interesting today.