Emerald Bay Photography News and Updates

In the world of magazine publishing, working a few months ahead of the print deadline is nothing unusual. So the results of the assignment that took me to San Francisco last July only just hit the newsstand last month.

You can check out the article "Sushi Quest in the City by the Bay" in the March/April issue of Bend Living Magazine - or, given their rather meager selection of images from that assignment, take a minute and indulge in a sort of "extended version" of the adventure...

Truth be told - at first, the idea of a quest to find the best sushi in a city, awash with some of the freshest seafood on the coast and a selection of great restaurants featuring it, seemed rather intimidating. For me personally however - as a sushi aficionado - the promise of spending 3 days reveling in raw fish approached a small slice of heaven.

Oh how very, very, wrong I would be.

Between some rigorous net research, recommendations from friends and my editor, writer Vi Ho and I settled on three restaurants to check out: Blowfish, Sudachi, and Kyoya. With swing in the step, elated tastebuds, camera gear and notepad ready in hand, we arrived at the first place, Blowfish.

Now - to make raw fish look attractive and appetizing, you sometimes really have to work hard. That goes for both the chef and the photographer. Blowfish however really had the presentation down, which made things decidedly easier for me:





Maybe it was the combination of dishes, maybe it was the sashimi - my small intestines didn't really care to make that distinction. They only knew that a short while later, they were very, very unhappy. And not being able to ignore them, so was I. Because in effect it prevented me from being able to enjoy the sushi - and any other solid food, for that matter - served up to me in the following two days.

Talk about being in a depression situation. Here I am - in one of the world's greatest seafood cities, a veritable plethora of choices tantalizing me at every turn, and kind chefs and restaurant managers serving up a seemingly endless procession of (free) dishes. And just the mere thought of tasting a piece of fish making my stomach squeamish.

Mostly I felt bad for the restaurants - they worked so hard to accommodate us and make a good impression. So I tried to be a trooper, indulged in the offered miso soup and edamame, smiled and nodded, and instead of salivating over the offerings, focused on making their food look good.

Sudachi's miso was indeed memorable - but (I was told) even more so were their unusual combinations of sashimi and exotic oils and condiments:





Kyoya shone with their exquisite presentation skills, but Vi proclaimed that their Shrimp Tempura roll was quite other-wordly too. How I wished I could have tasted it ...





After all was said and done, we returned to Bend - satisfied with our quest, and loaded with great story material. Even my intestines had arrived at a place of peace again. Alas, I'm still waiting for that subtle sushi craving to return.

Labels: commercial photographer Bend Oregon, food, food images, food photographer Bend OR, food photographer San Francisco CA, food photography, photography, sushi