Takashi is the restaurant I end up at every year for my anniversary. Even during the early pandemic, we got sushi as takeout and ate it at home. It isn’t a tradition per se, but just the spot we end up at when we want something we both love. For food writers who document everything, Greg and I make a point of staying off our phones and NOT photographing this particular dinner. We just focus on each other. And then I realized that one of my *favorite* food crushes in town was one of the few dishes I don’t have a single photo of, which meant a special trip for this month’s food crush.
In case you missed the Food Crush series from last year, I talked about individual dishes I love. Ones worth making that special trip. They are unique, or the perfect version of a classic, or just so damn good that they live in my brain and pop up with regularity. And so I wanted to kick off the New Year with a new food crush from an old favorite.
This month is a double: The Spicy Mussel Shooter paired with the Basque Gin and Tonic at Takashi. They somehow go beautifully together. But let’s talk about them individually to start.
The amazing Chef Peggi Ince-Whiting introduced me to mussel shooters as a sushi novice over twenty years ago at Ichiban (RIP). Sitting at the bar, I asked her what I should order. She put the mussels down in front of me and told me to slurp them down. They were so good, I felt a little high from the experience. And from there, I order them every. single. time. I see them on a menu. They are almost always good. But the spicy mussel shooters at Takashi are a step above anything I’ve had anywhere else.
With a hint of Takashi’s Japanese-Peruvian fusion, these particular shooters are made with his famous ceviche sauce. His “leche de tigre” is the base of his ceviche and appears in several other places on the menu. The sauce is tart and zingy, with paper-thin chilies pickled in the citrus for a bit of heat to balance the acid. Avocado mellows the flavor and helps it slide on down. When you order the mussels, pay the extra and get the shooters WITH the quail egg. The creaminess and fat from the raw yolk coat everything as you shoot it back, like a warm yellow blanket. While we are at it, let’s talk about the proper way to eat a mussel shooter. The hint is in the title. Shoot it. Pick up the shell. “Clink” shells with your dining companion. And shoot it back, almost like an oyster. The brine from the mussel, the fat from the avocado and yolk, the astringent ceviche sauce, and the heat from the chilies will marry on the way past the tongue. Little to no chewing needed.
Now, for the perfect accompaniment (my favorite gin and tonic in Salt Lake City). I can never say no to the Basque Gin and Tonic at Takashi. Made with local Beehive Jackrabbit Gin (which I find to be a particularly piquant variety), the cocktail is made with rose, sage, and lemon on top of a quality tonic (read: not syrupy sweet). As opposed to a traditional G&T with gin, tonic, and maybe a squeeze of lime, this version is floral, herbaceous, heady, and beautiful, with pink tea rose buds and fresh sage floating in the glass. Served in a snifter instead of the traditional highball glass, you get every scent from the gin and the aromatics, particularly the sage. Since it leans towards tart (thank you, lemon), it is a nice and refreshing sip any time of year but somehow pairs perfectly with the Takashi mussel shooters. Don’t shoot this cocktail. Sip and savor.
If You Go
Takashi
18 W Market St, Salt Lake City
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