Shunji Nakao, one of L.A.’s best sushi chefs, launches a $250 omakase pop-up called S Night

Ever since Shunji opened in 2012, the Sawtelle restaurant has consistently been one of the city’s most extraordinary sushi spots.

Now head chef and owner Shunji Nakao has quietly launched S Night, an occasional omakase-only pop-up held inside the chili-bowl-shaped restaurant on Pico Boulevard. For now, S Night will be held every few weeks, always on Sundays when Shunji is closed.

Compared with Shunji, the pop-up is more intimate and exclusive: only eight diners, all seated at the same time at the sushi counter; one menu; reservations required. Dinner is priced at roughly $250 per person.

Nakao, who founded the venerable Japanese restaurant Asanebo in Studio City with his brother in 1991 and was one of the three original sushi chefs at Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills, said he “controls and creates all the food” at S Night. His wife, Yuko, is in charge of sake pairings.

S Night’s menu is more experimental, allowing him to showcase new techniques, flavor combinations and pairings, he said. The limited number of seats also means closer interaction between chef and diner.

There have been two S Nights so far, in December and January. Dishes included shirako soup, spiny lobster with apple tosazu jelly, grilled tilefish and the crisp Japanese wafer called monaka, filled with sweet shrimp and caviar. Sushi is also part of the meal.

The next S Night is being planned for March. Reservations can be made by emailing s@shunji-ns.com or direct-messaging S Night’s Instagram account.

12244 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, shunji-ns.com/