Page 24 - 02_March-2025

New Best
3.
MSSM
“It’s not a restaurant — it’s an experience.”
This food-writing cliche is less common
than the ubiquitous “meat falls off the
bone,” but it’s a cliche nonetheless, and I’m
proud to have not used it so far.
But when I go to MSSM, which opened in
Edmonton Tower late last fall, I gotta say...
it really is an experience.
The specific experience is omakase,
which means “I leave it up to the chef,” and
it actually starts when you book an online
reservation, which comes with dining
instructions. Outside of dietary restrictions,
don’t ask for substitutions. Your chef will
ask if you like a lot or a little wasabi, so
there’s no need to add more (same goes
for soy sauce). Eat the sushi with your
hands, immediately after it’s placed on your
serving plate, and use the traditional finger
cloth (yubifuki) as a finger dabber, not a
napkin. And be prompt, because you’ll be
sharing the experience with strangers at
specific times for lunch and dinner services
(it only offers an à la carte menu for walk
ins after Oilers home games).
Masaki Saito — the only person in the
world with two Michelin stars in both New
York and Toronto, the site of the first MSSM
— has passed on his Edomae-style sushi
knowledge (fresh raw fish and cooked rice,
seasoned with vinegar) to a select group
of people who call themselves his students,
not chefs.
And as you watch their delicate precision
it becomes plain: These people aren’t
working at a restaurant, they’re engaged in
lifelong, food-based discipline, and we get
to delight in the fresh fruits (raw fish) of
their diligence. – C.S.
#118 10111 104 AVE. NW
780-906-9183
MSSMEDMONTON.CA
24 EDify. MARCH.25
PHOTO CURTIS TRENT