The reopened Sushi Kosho in Sebastopol is better than ever

When I wrote glowingly about Kosho­ just 13 months ago, I had no idea I’d be writing about it again so soon. But only a month after my three-star review was printed in this newspaper, I was reporting - so sadly - that Kosho had closed, literally overnight on Feb. 27, as its building in Sebastopol’s Barlow was flooded chest-high by the storm-wrecked Laguna de Santa Rosa nearby.

Kosho chef-owner Jake Rand had just opened his doors the previous October, after expensively renovating the space and investing an untold fortune in exquisite Japanese seafood that now, quite literally, was swimming away in the massive deluge.

Most chefs would have walked away upon losing their dream after only four months and facing a future with no flood insurance. Instead, Rand somehow rallied the energy to rebuild, stripping the space down to the studs and cobbling together finances to bring everything back better than ever. The new Kosho reopened this past October with a redesign, updated menu and a glittering crown as the best Japanese restaurant in Sonoma County.

It’s wonderful to see Rand back behind his sushi counter, slicing and arranging pristine fish sourced from Japanese fish markets including the renowned Tsukiji/Toyosu. He expanded the sushi bar for more seating and a larger chef workspace, all the better to savor nigiri delicacies such as sustainable farm-raised Kindai chu toro fatty tuna ($11), Tahitian maguro ($8), New Zealand king salmon ($7) and Grecian black snapper ($7). It’s fancy stuff - some nigiri comes topped in fairy-delicate flakes of edible gold.

The new dining room is more open and airy in a modern Japanese farmhouse mood blended with Scandinavian simplicity. The hostess stand and entry door is now at the front, instead of its earlier awkward placement off a middle wall, and a new, large wood and marble sake bar offers comfortable communal sipping and dining next to sleek wood tables.

Rand chats with diners at the 12-seat sushi counter, but he focuses on his craft and sly jokes instead of reliving the storm damage. He’s made a significant change to an important staple: rice. Previously, he made his rice with akazu (red vinegar made from sake-brewing lees) instead of rice vinegar (komezu), so it had a brown-orange color and stronger flavor. Akazu is high-class in Japan, but here, Rand found that diners appreciate the more familiar komezu.

The chef offers his dinner menu all day now, to round out a brief lunch selection with three poke bowls (try the Korean, silky-spicy with ahi, kimchee and soft egg, $16) and six donburi bowls (my pick is the crispy sesame chicken, crunchy with slightly bitter-sweet burdock root and a finishing sprinkle of furikake, $12).

That means I can indulge in my new favorite dish - chirashi - anytime. The item is somewhat hidden under the “sushi set” category, since it features chef’s choice sashimi “scattered” (that’s what chirashi means in Japanese) over ginger-flecked rice.

At $32, it’s a luxury dish, but the serving is huge, artfully fanned with a half dozen or so different fish - I found ahi, salmon, mackerel and torch-seared black snapper, then stopped concentrating so I could just absorb the beautiful flavors of thick, velvet fish curls, pickled eggplant, yellow pickled daikon, salmon roe, crunchy diced cucumber and other magical mysteries.

The dish comes with miso soup, and it’s one of the best versions I’ve ever had ($6 a la carte), the deeply rich dashi broth bobbing with shimeji mushrooms, green onion, delicate nori ribbons and tofu.

I added a cucumber sunomono salad ($9) alongside, and it, too, had that extra special spark, thanks to a “three cup” jelly instead of the usual thin vinaigrette. Rand explained that it was a twist on an old-school Japanese dressing recipe calling for a cup each of soy, sugar and vinegar.

Throughout the menu, chef Rand delights with layered flavors and bright sparks of sourness (the name Kosho salutes yuzu kosho, the Japanese chile paste that sings with spice, acid and vibrant citrus). A wild mushroom salad intertwines sautéed and pickled mushrooms, sunflower shoots and crispy lotus in a delicate but fiery wasabi lemon vinaigrette ($14), while a bluefin tuna sashimi appetizer is pure elegance in velvety wands of avocado wrapped in ruby red fish, topped in whisper thin potato chips, green onion tendrils, tiny diced crisp peppers and a cloud-light white onion dressing ($18).

Even specialty rolls are good, though I usually avoid such things at most Japanese restaurants, not charmed by oddities like mayonnaise, cream cheese, fried bits and crazy sauces. The #7 Roll, for example, elegantly combines spicy tuna, avocado and cucumber enrobed in rice, rolled in crunchy tempura flakes and topped with a smidge of jalapeño and cilantro for drama ($14).

With sushi this good, I don’t often visit the hot dish side of the menu, though that doesn’t stop me from stealing bites from my dining companion’s choices.

The 15 spice short ribs glisten with sticky, sesame-dotted hoisin sauce next to a mound of sesame miso slaw ($14), demanding to be picked up with our fingers and nibbled to the bone.

A new, custom made charcoal grill adds a bit of smoky char to yakitori, ?such as the succulent chicken thigh glazed in thick, sweet-salty tare sauce finished with Thai herbs ($9) and trumpet mushrooms perched atop smoky eggplant purée with baby vegetables in a swath of soy-garlic butter ($7).

As I popped a machi bon in my mouth, it felt like being home again. This had been one of my favorite dishes at the original Kosho, bringing orbs of sweet snow crab wrapped in yellowtail and dotted with salty, golden tobiko on a pond of sesame soy ($13). Welcome back, chef Rand, and thank you.

Carey Sweet is a Sebastopol-based food and restaurant writer. Read her restaurant reviews every other week in Sonoma Life. Contact her at carey@careysweet.com.