RESTAURANTS : STEALTH SUSHI : In a Quiet Neighborhood, a New Japanese Restaurant Makes Culinary Noise

Noise in Los Angeles is notable mainly when it’s absent. Even in the fanciest neighborhoods, the music of ordinary life is ever-present: The soft whoosh of traffic, the roar of the lawn mower and the clank of household appliances are always in the air. Radio, television and tape machines stopped seeming like intruders long ago.

In the cacophony of Los Angeles, silence is so unexpected that when you get out of your car on the downtown corner of 2nd and Vignes streets--arguably the city’s quietest corner--the silence is almost physical in its impact. It’s like jumping into the balmy comfort of a warm stream as it bubbles gently past.

The lights of downtown, floating over the rooftops of this warehouse district, make this experience even more disorienting. From this vantage point, downtown looks as charmed and welcoming as the Emerald City glittering magically in the distance. And then you walk into R23.

Here, in Los Angeles’ version of the middle of nowhere, is a sushi bar of such stark sophistication it takes your breath away. The walls are stripped down to the bare bricks. The floors are polished hardwood, scarred with age, and the exposed beams and rafters have the elegance of sculpture. The chairs are made of cardboard, but they embrace your body. There is no art on the walls--what looks like a painting behind the sushi bar turns out to be an assembly of ceramic sushi plates--and the single decorative element is a simple arrangement of flowers, artfully lit.

It is quiet here, calm even in the daytime, when the seats tend to be better occupied than at night. There are none of the histrionics of the typical sushi bar, either; if you ask the sushi chef behind the counter to give you what he thinks is best, he’ll ask, “Sushi or sashimi?” then smile and take one of the platters off the wall.

Most sushi bars have everything neatly sliced ahead of time, robbing you of the opportunity to see the master handle a knife. Here, on a busy day, you might see a whole fish flopped down on the counter and deftly filleted. When the sushi chef, Hiro Mishimura, is really pressed, his partner, Haru Maruyama (ordinarily the waiter), will stroll behind the bar and help him out.

Sushi and sashimi are what is best here--served on gorgeous plates by ceramic artist Mineo Mizuno. If you’ve been to Katsu, you’ve seen his work before. In fact, if you’ve been to Katsu, you have very likely seen Mishimura, Maruyama and their chef, Tatsumi Tobita, who cooked at Katsu the traditional food he is cooking here. This might be chawan mushi , the comforting classic savory custard, or fish simply steamed in wine. It might be the lunch tray of “Japanese specialties”--which comes with miso soup, a small bowl of simmered vegetables, fried shrimp, a bowl of rice and a little dish of what looks like tofu but turns out to be cold egg custard topped with a dot of green chile paste.

At lunchtime, there are salads, which seem to change with the whim of the chef. One day the eel-and-spinach salad was made with cooked, pressed spinach. Another day it was made with a pile of fresh spinach leaves. Both days the eel was rich and tender, a delicious contrast to the vegetable.

Grilled lamb chops are the thing to eat at dinner, if you don’t want fish. These come blood rare, in an unusual sauce dominated by the taste of soy. Fried lobster should be avoided; actually, I was not enamored of any of the fried dishes on the menu.

As with all Japanese restaurants, the service in this one depends on the business at the sushi bar. If many people are making demands on the sushi chef, prepare to eat leisurely. Unlike most Japanese restaurants, however, this one has a remarkable sweetness. One night a baby was crawling around the floor, looking very content to be in such a calm, happy place. The feeling was entirely infectious.

R23, 923 E. 3rd St., 109, Los Angeles; (213) 687-7178. Open Monday through Saturday for dinner, Monday through Friday for lunch. Beer and sake. Parking lot in front. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $30-$75.

Food stylist: Norman Stewart