Elegance in the Raw (Fish)

Just about everybody in L.A. has their favorite pod-mall sushi bar, the more obscure the better. But if you happen to live in “exclusive Beverly Hills,” as the neighborhood is called in the Monica reports, where do you go? There’s Ginza Sushiko, the most expensive restaurant of any ilk in all of L.A., but even deep-pocketed Beverly Hills sorts may balk at spending more than $200 a person for raw fish, however exquisite, on a regular basis.

Now there’s Restaurant Kiyono, a relatively elegant sushi restaurant on Beverly Drive just across the street from that beef lovers’ emporium Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Instead of the usual Formica or sanded wood counter, Kiyono’s is polished granite. The sushi station is lit by diva lights. Original art is framed on the walls, crisp white linens grace the tables, and potted moth orchids float over the counter.

The quality of the raw fish is excellent, and here as at any serious sushi restaurant, the best strategy is to let the sushi chef suggest what he thinks is best that day. On a recent night, a guest and I began with pale halibut splashed with ponzu and draped over neat ovals of rice. Then came satiny yellowtail, followed by buttery, well-marbled toro (tuna belly), and silver-skinned Japanese mackerel.

Next, the kitchen sent out shrimp heads, dipped in tempura batter and fried. While we savored these crunchy tidbits, the sushi chef laid out the raw pink and white shrimp tails on a cushion of pearly sushi rice. We ended the light meal with impeccably fresh uni (sea urchin roe) swathed in black-green nori, and a final pair of nigiri-zushi topped with broiled eel slathered in a sweet glaze.

Restaurant Kiyono also serves teriyaki and tempura dishes and has table seating in addition to seating at the bar. If you do sit at the bar, the sushi chefs are friendly and chatty, without being intrusive.

The tab was considerably higher than at most sushi bars, but then few offer surroundings this serene and polished. For a quiet conversation over sushi, this new sushi bar may provide the answer.

BE THERE

Restaurant Kiyono, 255 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills; (310) 205-3741. Open Monday to Friday for lunch; daily for dinner. Sushi $30 to $40 per person. Valet parking.