12
Jul
Things I can't Live Without: Hooker Sushi
What the hell is Hooker Sushi you ask?
It’s the sushi from my favorite Las Vegas restaurant, the name of which I can never remember (though it’s Kaizen).
The joint (which is a small chain) sits directly across from the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas in a nondescript strip mall next to a decent Italian joint (a story for another day). It opens for lunch, and stays open until 3 am.
Several years ago, I was shooting an event for a group of dentists. Not your typical dental convention, these guys pulled out all the stops. Richard Simmons was their main star. How cool is that? (By the way, as I was having my shoes shined at the HRH, Simmons came trotting down the hall, spied me, and yelled, “OMG! It’s Mike the cute photographer! Helloooooo Mike!”. That’ll make the shoe shine guy’s rag stop every time.)
But I digress. I was shooting late one night after the event, and was sitting at the sushi bar, sucking down a fantastic “Kiss of Fire” and “Hard Rock Roll”. The sushi chef was mixing up the largest vat of spicy tuna roll stuffing I’ve ever seen.
“Um,” I asked rather timidly (those guys have knives), “Dude. It’s 11 at night. That’s a lot of spicy tuna mix. Can I ask who the hell is going to eat that this late at night?”
“You don’t want to know.”
I really did want to know. I mainly was hoping he wasn’t going to say, “it’s for tomorrow”. This WAS sushi, after all. Raw sushi. Not fake crab and cream cheese, fry it, and call it sushi, sushi.
“Well, we stay open until 3 am.”
“Yes, but that could feed the entire Las Vegas strip.”
“Well, in about an hour my girls start to come in.”
“Girls?”
“Well, you know…the working girls. They eat a lot of sushi, helps keep their figure.”
Wow. Ding! Ding! Ding! One of life’s wake up moments. Hookers like sushi because it’s good for them? Good for their figure? I am so there.
I’ve been chowing down on sushi ever since. This week, I climbed Paul’s peg board 10 times in 10 minutes, earning me a coveted “black shirt” from his gym. It seems less than 10 people have been able to do this in the history of the gym. Now, I’m not saying there is a connection between hooker sushi and this minor personal achievement, but…
What do you think my lunch was that day?
Richard Simmons was entertainment for the Dentists (and that is all of them on stage joining him in the closing number) immediately prior to me discovering the joys of Hooker Sushi. For the record, I love the man.