Member-only story
HASHIRI: A POCKET GUIDE TO OMAKASE IN 2020
A miniature review for one of SF’s acclaimed Omakase spots and how they operate during the pandemic.
[5:00 PM, Downtown San Francisco]
I’m starving. It’s bright out, but the sun is slowly waning. I stand, waiting, along a line of velvet ropes, as the head sommelier, clad in mask, scans my forehead with a digital, touchless, thermometer. A moment later, he nods his head — I’m in. Two moments later, my party is seated in a geometric plastic igloo. Throughout the months of quarantine, Hashiri has been in a constant battle with city legislation and jurisdiction, as well as neighborhood concerns, on using these bubbles to dine, but it seems like for now, these domes are here to stay.
There were only two domes outside, each with a table that sat a maximum of four people. Four people was also the maximum amount of people allowed in the dome at all times, it seemed — the GM and waitress made sure to only enter one at a time with our party of three as they seated and plated us.
Around a month ago, a friend and I had booked Hashiri specifically for another friend’s birthday. To that effect, they made us custom menus (and for the birthday…
