At this LA sushi restaurant, dinner starts with a 200-pound tuna carving show

I watched as a 216-pound bluefin tuna was carved up live in front of the audience that was about to eat it, on the patio of sushi restaurant Uchi in West Hollywood. 

Chef Joel Hammond stripped off the scales and dismantled the head and collar, before separating the fish into large sections. He held up different cuts, including the prized, fatty otoro.

Immediately after, the tuna was made into sushi and small plates. We tried the lean bluefin tuna as well as the fatty bluefin tuna collar, which were so fresh and tender, and melted in your mouth. 

This free event is a new monthly tradition at Uchi. Hammond says the idea came about because he was breaking down a whole tuna every week anyway, behind closed doors. One tuna can feed the restaurant for a week. 

“I was like, well, why don’t I just break down a tuna out on our patio and we can offer some extended happy hour, fun special menu things all revolving around the tuna,” Hammond said.  

The experience brings Uchi more guests and exposure, but doesn’t cost the restaurant anything extra. 

That’s why more high-end sushi restaurants around the US are turning tuna butchery into dinner theatre. 

“I really think a lot of chefs kind of at the same time that we started doing things kind of came up with that same idea as well,” Hammond said, crediting the trend to social media. 

Prior to Uchi, Hammond worked at Japanese restaurant Morimoto in New York City, which hosted extravagant tuna breakdown events costing $400 per person. 

He wanted to create a much more casual and accessible version of the experience. 

During our October visit, handrolls made from the bluefin tuna ranged from $12 to $16 each. Two pieces of nigiri cost $18 to $24 and small plates were priced at $14 to $26 each. 

The tuna breakdown show originated in Japan, and is typically very formal and expensive, Hammond said. 

“With us, we just want it to be casual and fun on our patio,” he added. “Make it something where you can go sit outside, have a couple cocktails, eat some small plates and two-for-one sushi bites and actually get a deal while watching a full show.”

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