Where the sushi’s on a roll

“SUSHI bar or table?”

It’s the inevitable question that can throw you off the minute you walk into a sushi joint. The bar’s got the chef and the show, but the table’s got the space and the privacy.

Enter the sushi wagon, the latest act in tableside entertainment. We’ve got waiters tossing Caesar salads. We’ve got chefs carving up prime rib and chicken. Now, within chopstick distance, we’ve got sushi chefs slicing, rolling and serving us from behind a trolley.

That’s how it is at Sushi & Kushi Imai in Beverly Hills, at least. On top of the sleek stainless-steel sushi wagon sits a refrigerated compartment with a horizontal window. Look through the glass and you’ll see plates of fresh fish nestled on that familiar fake grass. It’s got everything the sushi chef needs: various bottles of sauces -- soy, spicy mayonnaise, sweet eel -- plus an avocado on one side; a small, pretty box containing seaweed; a cutting board and knife; and even a rice cooker and toaster oven tucked underneath. A paper lantern hangs jauntily from above.

And behind the wagon, of course, is a sushi chef at the ready.

On a recent night, the wagon rolled out of hiding in the kitchen -- causing heads to turn all over the dining room -- parked tableside and plugged in. A few moments later, chef Yukitoshi Higuchi took his place behind the cutting board, pulled out a piece of yellowtail and started slicing. He didn’t talk much, focusing on making each dish that had been ordered: salmon sushi, albacore sushi with a touch of ponzu, salmon skin roll, eel and avocado roll. It was sushi-VIP treatment, for 20 minutes or so.

According to restaurant manager Masa Kato, the wagon is Sushi & Kushi’s own invention (“kushi,” by the way, means skewers) -- and it took four tries to get the design just right. But, he says, it harks back to how sushi was served long ago. “Like 250 years ago, sushi was a street food only available from a sushi cart. We’re trying to serve old style.”

And they’re trying quite quietly. The restaurant’s got two wagons, though you wouldn’t know it. When not in service, they’re parked out of view, and they aren’t mentioned on the menu. Your server probably won’t tell you about them either. The only way you’d know about the wagon is if you happen to see one at someone else’s table.

Then you can have what they’re having.

-- Leslee Komaiko

Small bites

* Literati II in West Los Angeles has started offering weekend brunch and Sunday night dinner. The a la carte brunch menu includes German pancakes with strawberries and bananas, and a Dungeness crab sandwich with chervil and avocado on toasted brioche. Sunday dinner will feature an abbreviated version of the regular menu.

Literati II, 12081 Wilshire Blvd, West L.A., (310) 479-3400.

* Starting this weekend, Maple Drive offers dinner service Sunday nights. Instead of the regular menu, a four-course prix fixe menu, with four choices for each course, is being offered for $45 a person. Sunday nights will also feature live music.

Maple Drive, 345 N. Maple Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 274-9800.

* On Sept. 23, in honor of its second anniversary (and taking a cue from London’s Just Around the Corner restaurant), O-Bar is offering a new menu sans prices. It’s part of a charity event. Guests will be asked to pay whatever they think their meal is worth, and amounts paid beyond the actual menu price will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

O-Bar, 8279 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 822-3300.