Brookfield Wannabe

I had the pleasure of eating at Wasabi, the newest addition to the Asian dining scene in the Brookfield/Elm Grove area.  By my count, Wasabi is now the fourth Japanese restaurant on the Bluemound Road corridor.  Gone are the days when you had to trek down to the venerable Izumi's on the east side for quality sushi.  Wasabi is located in a strip mall at the intersection of Moorland Road and Bluemound, the same mall that houses the Vitamin Shoppe and Starbucks.

As with most of the newer restaurants, the decor at Wasabi is contemporary.  The large sushi bar dominates the room, with tables at the center and small booths and banquette seating to the sides.  Wasabi also has a small regular bar.  It bills itself as having a "lounge" atmosphere, but I am not sure what that means.  Maybe it means "dark" because the lighting was a tad dim the night I was there, which made reading the menu difficult.  

Surprisingly, there was no beef/steak teriyaki on the menu, even though Chicken ($16) and Salmon Teriyaki ($18) were both offered.  This disappointed us because beef teriyaki is our "go to" dish for our daughter in Japanese restaurants.  Upon the advice of our server, we chose the Braised Prime Short Rib ($18) as a substitute, after being told it had a "sweet" flavor similar to teriyaki.   Although not really like teriyaki, I'd describe the braised short rib as a kind of sweet pot roast.  The sweet taste was subtle, and the meat was not dripping in sauce, as is usually the case with teriyaki dishes.  It got the thumbs up from the little one.  The portion was pretty big for a child, but it made for good leftovers the next day.  The entree did not come with rice but was served with a sweet "bread", similar to what encases barbecued pork buns, if you're familiar with dim sum.  (I'd write the chinese name for it but I doubt the software would allow it.)

On the night we were there, the restaurant was out of shrimp dumplings, which are my favorite and are generally more complex in taste than beef dumplings/pot stickers, if done right.  But since I was in the mood for dumplings, we ordered the beef ones, Gyoza ($6).  You can order them steamed or pan fried.  My preference is pan fried for beef dumplings.  I'm not sure why I ordered the Gyoza that night because I am not a big fan of pot stickers.  Generally, the filling always strikes me as bland, and they turn out "gummy" more often than not when pan fried.  But the ones at Wasabi pleasantly surprised me.  Delicately shaped, they retained a crispness around the edges.

For entrees, the spouse and I stuck with sushi, but the restaurant offers a variety of non-sushi selections.  For meat lovers, there are three different kinds of steak entrees with an asian twist:  New York Strip ($21), Filet Mignon ($27), Rib Eye ($18).  For seafood lovers, in addition to the salmon teriyaki mentioned above, there is Chilean Sea Bass ($20), Spice Garlic Shrimp ($18), and Scallop and Crab Cake ($18).

Wasabi also offers a variety of fried rice, ranging from $5 to $8.

For sushi eaters, there are "wraps", cone shaped hand rolled sushi: Spicy Tuna ($4) and Negi Toro (fatty tuna) ($8), to name a few.  Wasabi also has many different rolls.   The spouse and I shared the Black Dragon roll ($16), which consisted of soft shell crab, avocado, and cucumber, topped with eel.  It was very good but didn't differ greatly from other dragon rolls that I've sampled at other restaurants.

We liked Wasabi.  The prices and portions are comparable to other Japanese restaurants in our area.  The Gyoza was the biggest hit, far better than other "pot stickers" I've tasted in both Japanese and Chinese places.  As for the sushi, I was impressed with the number of "signature rolls" that Wasabi offers, but the roll I had, while good, was nothing unique.

We had no qualms taking our younger daughter there.  There were more than enough non-sushi items to choose from. There were no problems with service when we were there.

With all these new Japanese restaurants, it's important to remember that "sushi" doesn't mean "raw fish".  So, if you don't care for raw fish sushi, that doesn't mean you can't try out these new places.  For example, the Black Dragon roll I ordered has all "cooked" ingredients, including the eel, which is delicious for all you uninitiated out there.  There are also vegetarian rolls available.  Just carefully read the menu and ask your server for his/her recommendations.  Sushi is a great alternative if you don't feel like eating a heavy meal.

(Neither the owners or management/staff of Wasabi knew we were coming nor did they offer me anything in exchange for writing this blog.)

My blog today is about Michael M. Taylor, a man I don't know. His name was provided to me by Project 2996.

Founded two years ago, Project 2996 pays tribute to the victims of 9/11 by asking bloggers to blog about a victim and then post the written tribute on September 11.  A blogger can choose a specific person or, as in my case, write about a person that the website selects.

Michael ("Mouse") Taylor was 42 years old when the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center, his workplace.   He grew up in Pennsylvania, was a graduate of Duke University and UCLA, and was working as a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald when his life was tragically cut short.

At the time of his death, he was survived by his parents, a brother, two sisters, and a fiancee. 

There is one story about him that I particularly like.  In the 90's, he bought a Porsche Carrera.  The car was a stickshift, but he didn't drive stick.   So, he got his buddy, a professional NASCAR driver, to teach him how to drive stick in exchange for golf lessons.    Why do I like that story?  First, it shows that Mr. Taylor had great taste in cars.  (The Porsche Carrera just happens to be my dream car.)  Second, he had the good sense to know that the only way to drive a Porsche is by stickshift. 

I wish that I had more time to write this tribute.  As it happens, I only found out about Project 2996 at around 5:30 p.m. on September 10 and am writing this at 11:10 p.m. so that I can post it on September 11.

The bits and pieces I've related to you about Mr. Taylor were gleaned from other sources.  In addition to the nytimes.com article linked to above, here are the other sources I found:

Duke Magazine 

Elsie's Yoga Class  (Seriously -- Elsie blogged about Mr. Taylor as part of the 2006 Project 2996)

There is a poem by Pearl Cleage called We Speak Your Names.  It was recited as part of Oprah's Legends Ball.  Although the poem was recited in order to pay tribute to African-American women pioneers, the power of the poem was in their names -- after every verse, the names of several women were pronounced slowly and solemnly.   In a single name, there was weight, substance -- reverence.

So today, on September 11, 2008 -- MICHAEL M. TAYLOR -- I speak your name.

*****

To see a list of the 2008 bloggers and the people they have chosen to honor and to learn more about Project 2996, click here.

H/T to Cindy Kilkenny at Fairly Conservative for the info on Project 2996.