Katsuya: Catastrophe in Hollywood

Recently I was invited the new Katsuya on Hollywood for a birthday dinner of a close girlfriend. My husband Ale is really into interior design and had told me it was beautiful so I was pretty excited to see what Phillip Starck had done with the place. Normally Ale and I like to head out to Little Tokyo to eat good sushi, we find that the sushi is of optimal quality and not as expensive as the Hollywood or restaurants on the west-side. Sometimes If we feel like sushi and don't want to go so far we'll go to Iwata or Asanebo in the Valley and of course the Katsuya on Ventura, though over-priced, is yummy too. I got to Hollywood a little early that evening and went to Borders to buy my friend a gift, The One Hundered a book by fashion director Nina Garcia. Forty-five minutes later I walked up to the glittery black marble steps of Katsuya and was still early. After checking in with the hostesses I zig- zagged my way through knives encased in glass cubes which serve as chic little tables to the bar. Peering into the north dining room where the sushi bar is located I was really impressed with the layout and overall feel of the room. My friend Abby showed up and we walked over to the only vacant seat at the bar. When she sat on the chair we were amused when two overdressed women informed us that the seat was being saved. Ever the no-nonsense ball busting east-coaster, Abby, rolling her eyes, ignored this and said to me "I'll move if she shows up," I love this about her. There was a nice gentleman at the bar who offered me his seat so I could sit next to her while we waited for our friends. Now, I am not a cocktail type of lady, preferring white wine or a prosecco I nontheless ordered a watermelon mojito because Abby highly recommended that I try it. I was not really impressed. I felt as through the flavor of mint overpowered the watermelon which wasn't from a properly ripe watermelon in the first place. I am not even convinced that this is a pairing of flavors that should happen but then again, I am not a cocktail type of lady. Actually, I take that back, I do love a good gimlet made with fresh lime juice or a dirty martini once in a while but honestly all these fruity concoctions conjure up images of trashy, been-around-ALL-the-blocks, middle-aged women partying at the local watering hole holding on dearly to their early 20's, but I digress. Listening to the delicious dating escapades of Abby (my favorite) while ignoring the dirty looks of the woman sitting on her other side (whom I have to say was inexplicably dressed in a floor-length red, off the shoulder gown for dinner on a Thursday night, Perhaps she was going to a black-tie affair later in the evening or perhaps she was working-if you catch my drift;-) I noticed the bartender girl looking annoyed that we were slowly sipping our drinks, strike one. When our party was complete we were taken to our table in a lovely white private room. The birthday girl is from Japan so we ordered numerous dishes and ate family style. Dinner was nice although a little loud. The acoustics in the place are atrocious. I felt sorry for the server who could barely hear us when we shouted our orders to her. I could only hear the people on either side of me which pretty much defeated the purpose of having a private room. We ate a ton of sushi, the octopus was too rubbery, but aside from that is was pretty good but nothing astonishing enough to justify the price. Katsuya on Ventura is much better qualitywise. After our plates were cleared and we all dipped into the birthday dessert platter we were chatting and having a final drink when we noticed a man glaring at us from the dining room. After a while he went away and we forgot about him but then the hostess came over and did the unthinkable. After spending $700 dollars she asked us if we could hurry up and head over to the bar because she needed the table. We of course refused and continued to talk until we were ready. We really liked our server so her tip didn't suffer but I couldn't believe the audaciousness of the hostess. After eating in some of the finest restaurants in Europe and the U.S. I am quite offended by this lack of etiquette from a restaurant which considers itself one of the best in California. TACKY