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The slogan of sushi chef Alex Herzog for his sushi trolley Great Wave is: “A combination of traditional sushi with a modern flair, carefully prepared to order by a real sushi lover.” Based on my last order from the trolley parked at Austin Street Brewery in Portland’s so-called Yeast Bayside neighborhood, I’d put the emphasis on the “modern flare” part.
Where traditional sushi is restrained, almost strict and clean in taste, Herzog’s more American approach is large and exuberant, with spices, strong splotches of wasabi, “tempura crunchies”, jalapeno slices, bottles with lots of sauces for curling and menu items such as Sushi Burger, Sushi Tartare Towers, Poke Nachos and Spicy Tuna Crispys. It’s a fun party-in-the-mouth style sushi style that suits its brewery.
If there were any sushi purists protesting, I didn’t see them. Instead, around 1 p.m. on a Friday in July, a line of expectant sushi eaters waited patiently for the order. Herzog is a one-man show. He makes the sushi – skillfully and quickly – and takes and serves the orders on his own. My partner and I had to go back to work so we were concerned about the 30 minute wait (longer than the 15-20 minutes Herzog expected; you cannot order online) but as far as we could tell, other customers happily returned returned to their tables on the terrace, drank their patina pale ales and offset IPAs, met up with friends and regularly checked with Herzog about the status of their orders.
Large Wave Sushi Spicy Tuna Rice Bowl. Photo by Peggy Grodinsky
Inside, the casual, huge, sun- and plant-filled industrial room was a nice place to wait, and you can watch Herzog at work as he efficiently plucks rice from a large model rice cooker and quickly rolls, stuffs, slices and arranges / composes pieces of sushi .
Tall guy in a Great Wave T-shirt and baseball cap, Herzog grew up in Portland and started his cart in the winter. He told us that he was interested in sushi in college where he had a Korean roommate. According to his website, he is a graduate of the California Sushi Academy and worked in several Japanese locations in Los Angeles before returning to his hometown. In Portland, Herzog worked at Yosaku, whose owner Takahiro Sato took the young man on a culinary journey of several weeks to Japan, where Herzog studied soba and sushi making. He spoke with great excitement about the trip (and with even greater excitement about his new baby). Perhaps most amazingly, since many restaurants struggle to find help, he told us that a lot of people are asking to work for him.
Big Wave Sushi Vegetable Futomaki Roll. Photo by Peggy Grodinsky
We ordered the veggie futomaki roll ($ 10) to take away as well as the generously portioned Spicy Tuna Rice Bowl ($ 17), a special of the day (maybe Herzog should rename it Chirashi Sushi? That’s a bowl Japanese style rice with toppings)). Above the bowl, or actually a square plastic container with rice, were crabs, lots of avocado slices, cucumber, these crunchies, eel sauce, hot kewpie mayonnaise, wasabi and a pinch of black sesame seeds. The dish came with a pile of pickled pink ginger and an envelope of Kikkoman soy sauce (points for it; Kikkoman sauce is ripened for several months, unlike many chemically made soy sauce packs from takeaways). Our vegetable roll, cut into nine neat slices, was filled with crispy lettuce, more avocado and more crispy pieces.
Together they made a cooling and surprisingly filling lunch on a hot afternoon.
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