Sushi chef, student practices dentistry skills in kitchen

Each Saturday night, surrounded by the sound of live jazz, the elegance of a French restaurant, an array of raw fish and a few plastic Godzillas, Tony Saito is able to practice for his graduate work in the dental lab. As a sushi chef, the University dental student said he gains valuable experience working with his hands, delicately slicing, rolling and molding fish, rice, and vegetables into what he regards an art form. The Tokio-Le Champignon restaurant, located in Society Hill at 2nd and Lombard streets, provides a unique mix between a casual Japanese sushi bar and a fine French restaurant. Diners in the restaurant can choose to sit at normal tables or at tatami, low Japanese style tables set on mats designed for kneeling. They can order French cuisine or sushi from the adjacent bar where Saito works as the chef. "By working here, I've met a lot of people," said Saito, who is in his second year at the University's Dental School. Saito has worked at the restaurant for eight years and decided to enter dental school after a regular customer introduced Saito to the profession. "It's an advantage to me to have found a career working with my hands," Saito said. "Being able to work with your hands is important in the dental labs." The sushi bar offers a casual environment which Saito said he prefers to work in. The menu features Japanese cartoons, and his Godzilla collection adourns one wall. "We get a lot of Penn students coming down here," said Saito, noting that the casual environment makes it easier for new customers to experiment with sushi for the first time. "A lot of new people come in. I guide them through nice and easy. You just don't want to have them jump in and eat raw fish," said Saito. "A lot of people have the conception that Japanese food is just raw fish, but there is also hot food like beef, chicken and pork, as well as others." Saito said that Japanese food is divided into numerous categories including nigiri, maki and sashimi. Nigiri is an actual piece of raw fish served on top of rice, while the sashimi is just the fish. "This is what actual sushi is all about -- fish on top of rice," Saito said. But Saito said he frequently serves other styles of Japanese food. For instance, maki is a roll, with fish wrapped in rice and seaweed. Wasadi is a type of horseradish which can be dipped in the soy sauce to provide a strong, hot taste. "In the winter time people have colds so they'll use some wasadi and it will clear up their sinuses," said Saito. Ginger is provided as a way to cleanse the palate. New fish can be tried without the taste of a previous fish left over. And Saito said he normally recommends California rolls to the first time sushi eater because they do not contain any raw fish. "They won't be overwhelmed by raw fish," Saito said. An open mind, however, can lead one to more exotic varieties, according to Saito, who notes that sea urchin is available for "professional" sushi eaters. The advanced sushi diners also may eat quail eggs which cracked open on salmon. "Those are not for beginners," Saito said. Different types of sushi can be ordered and be arranged on a wooden Japanese style boat as a centerpiece. The arrangements can become very ornate, according to Saito. "It's definitely art, especially the boats," said Saito. Saito warned, however, that eating raw fish can be dangerous. "A lot of people are worried about it. The important thing is to get to know the restaurant and chef," Saito said. "I'm really critical of my sushi." He said he uses fish from a "high quality" New York sushi company. "[The restaurant] is a combination of the best of both worlds -- the Orient and the Western World," said Marguerite Galant, a patron at the sushi bar. "It's quite unique."

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