Celebrity Favorite, Sushi By Scratch Expands To Healdsburg ...

Chef Willer Larreal preparing sushi at Sushi by Scratch

Scratch Restaurants Group, the Los Angeles-based, Michelin-starred group from husband-and-wife chef team Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee, recently opened their third California location, Sushi by Scratch Restaurants: Healdsburg within The Matheson, Dustin Valette’s acclaimed food and wine experience in Downtown Healdsburg.

Since the group’s launch in 2013, it has become a go-to in the fine dining space thanks to its A-list celebrity supporters–such as Prince Harry & Megan Markle, Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow.

This new location operates in a speakeasy fashion, tucked away in an intimate, private dining room. The 17-course omakase-inspired tasting menu features an array of Chef Phillip’s signature nigiri creations and Chef Margarita’s beloved dessert. The experience features exceptionally unique nigiri that incorporates inspiration from Chef Phillip’s childhood, as well as, distinct eras in sushi.

“My culinary upbringing was mainly Michelin starred tasting menus, which is why I refer to what we do as an “omakase inspired" tasting menu, because what we are truly doing is just that—“Omakase” means “I leave it up to you,” explains Chef Phillip. “We aren't just asking the guests to allow us to choose for them, instead we are writing an entire menu start to finish—think a concept album vs. singles.”

Fresh Water Eel Fried in bone marrow and poblano yuzu kosho

The menu showcases fish and shellfish flown in from Tokyo’s world famous Toyosu Fish Market, with signature pieces that include the hamachi painted yellow with sweet corn pudding and topped with a fine sprinkle of breadcrumbs made from Kallas-Lee’s famous sourdough and fan favorite of unagi that’s fried crispy in the rendered bone marrow fat from the previous course and then dressed with poblano yuzu kosho, soy sauce, ponzu, lemon, and sea salt.

For dessert, guests enjoy Chef Margarita’s Matcha Bon Bon with makrut lime, white chocolate, and shortbread paired with a Hot Green Tea that is brewed with a bit of umeshu plum wine, smoked lavender honey, and fresh yuzu to round out the dinner.

We chatted with Chef Phillip Frankland Lee on what’s special about this omakase experience; his inspiration and more. Here’s what he had to say.

When it comes to working on individual dishes, I draw my inspiration very heavily from two eras in sushi history. One being the mid 1700’s and the other being the 1970’s. In the 1700’s sushi was not “raw” it was boiled, broiled, cured, fermented, preserved, etc. but not raw. Although most of my menu is raw, I do try to incorporate both the elements, textures and flavors of some of those historical elements.

In the 1970’s, once sushi had transitioned to raw thanks to refrigeration, at some of the best sushi houses in Tokyo, the chefs were taking guests on a journey of their childhood by pairing and presenting their dishes with the flavors, ingredients and sensibilities of the areas they grew up in.

Hamachi painted yellow with sweet corn pudding and topped with a fine sprinkle of breadcrumbs made ... [+] from Kallas-Lee’s famous sourdough

So I thought the most traditional and respectful approach I could take, would be to do just that. Since I grew up in LA, I ate a lot of corn on the Cobb and I LOVED Nancy Silverton's La Brea Bakery sourdough! The first course I ever designed for the menu when we opened 8 years ago was hamachi painted yellow with sweet corn pudding, garnished with sourdough breadcrumbs and seasoned with my homemade soy sauce and freshly grated wasabi root.

On paper this might sound strange but it isn’t; it is truly meant to elevate the fish where with your eyes closed you take a bite and say “That’s the best hamachi I’ve ever had.”

I was 13 years old when I decided I wanted to be a sushi chef when I grew up, and there are 2 dishes on the menu that are inspired by the flavors of sushi on Ventura Blvd in the 90s. The first is scallop. In the 90s sushi in LA was simply fish in rice with a sidecar of soy mixed with fake wasabi. However, if you ordered scallop nigiri it would ALWAYS come seasoned with lemon, salt and yuzu kosho.

This was always one of my favorites, so I decided to essentially put it on my menu as is, but from scratch. First, it gets brushed gently with our homemade soy, then our homemade ponzu, then a squeeze of lemon and some sea salt that we import from Bali and then I finish it with yuzu kosho I make from local poblano peppers.

Another Valley classic is my seared albacore with crispy onion and ponzu, a dish made in homage to the most famous dish of the scene back then. However, instead of just replicating each step like in the scallop, I decided to make a new dish inspired by the original.

In my version, I rub down the fish in roasted garlic and sea salt and then wrap it in nori that has been soaked in unfiltered sake then grill it over almond wood. I then chill it, slice it, serve it with a lot of ponzu as the original is served—basically in a soup bowl—and finish it with fresh wasabi and crispy onions.

The majority of our fish is flown in from Japan and lands at LAX; we have a broker in Tokyo who appears at the auction every morning and hand picks all of our fish for all locations. The fish he selects comes in on Tuesdays and Thursdays and arrives very fresh, fish from Japan is flown into Los Angeles so the fish we serve is fresher than what you’d have on the east coast.

This was absolutely intentional; all our locations have a speakeasy vibe and we have been doing this style for years. When you dine with us it's approximately two hours of a whimsical experience and we love it as much as our guests.

We love Healdsburg and we want to bring our concept to places we love. I hope we add a destination that residents can enjoy regularly who feel the same way about Healdsburg as well as people who love to visit. It’s no accident we are here—we love it here and want to be a part of the blossoming scene, growing roots within the community and thriving.