President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe claimed two of the ten seats at the world-famous Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo on April 23, along with US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and National Security Adviser Susan Rice. The eatery, considered to be one of the top sushi destinations on the planet, was the subject of the 2011 hit documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi.
So did it garner the presidential seal of approval?
“That’s some good sushi right there,” said Obama as he emerged from the restaurant, according to a pool report.
The three-star Michelin eatery, owned by 89-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, is tucked in a basement attached to the Ginza Metro Station. Though traditional multi-course meal typically lasts just half an hour—much less time than Obama spent perched at José Andrés’s similarly exclusive and pricey Minibar last Valentine’s Day—the President and his party left the restaurant after an hour and a half. Obama is the master of culinary diplomacy, after all.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
