Friendship, sushi and reading between the lines

“One of America’s best sushi restaurants is in Omaha. Yes, Omaha.”
That headline grabbed our youngest daughter’s attention last week. Blayke and her fiancée Joe live in Omaha and both enjoy sushi, so the fact that the Washington Post had written a story making such a bold claim got their attention. They had eaten at Yoshimoto, one of owner David Utterback’s three local sushi restaurants, and gave it two thumbs way, way up as an expensive but memorable first-class dining experience.
World-class raw fish for dinner, in a city once known as a cow town? That is a headline in and of itself. I was intrigued by the story as I’ve expanded my palate over the years beyond Nebraska-based meat and potato staples to include fish as one of my favorite entrees, including sushi. 
My interest went up another notch when I noticed the byline on the Washington Post feature story. The detailed piece about chef Utterback’s life journey was written by Tim Carman, a very good friend whom I studied journalism with a lifetime ago at Kearney State College. Tim and I were editors on the Antelope newspaper staff, logging many late hours on deadline, followed by the obligatory beer at a hole-in-the-wall bar in downtown Kearney. Those were the good old days:-)
I caught up with my good friend, a native of Omaha, a couple of months ago when he was back in Nebraska to receive a UNK alumni award. We met with another college friend for dinner and drinks, where I couldn’t wait to hear the story of how a fellow KSC J-school grad went from an entry-level writing job at the Kansas City Star in 1985 to being a food writer for the Washington Post, made famous by Woodward, Bernstein & Co. during the Watergate era.
It was a fascinating journey, I learned, which took a detour while Tim was working at the Houston Post. That once proud newspaper made headlines of its own in 1995 when it closed its doors, leaving Tim temporarily unemployed. A man of many talents and interests, he decided to use his free time to enroll in culinary school. Fast forward through a couple of other jobs and a move to the east coast, where Tim said his combined writing experience and culinary training landed him a job as a food reporter at another D.C. newspaper, and eventually at the Washington Post.
Reading the Omaha sushi feature with interest in both the restaurateur and the reporter, I was fascinated to read Tim’s explanation of the paradox that is chef Utterback’s life — serving sushi in a landlocked city that’s home to Omaha Steaks. He is the son of a Japanese mother and American father, living in the middle of those two worlds where he learned to think outside the box to create a refined kind of American sushi.
Nominated for a prestigious James Beard Award, Utterback said he would prefer not to win because he enjoys the relative anonymity of creating world-class cuisine in his adopted hometown, while staying connected to his Japanese roots. 
When sushi came to America, “it was supposed to fuse with our culture and we were supposed to use our ingredients,” Utterback shared. “But instead, sushi chefs were so concerned with being Japanese and being authentic, we didn’t let sushi do its thing.”
“If there was Nebraska sushi,” he added, “it would be beef.”
I enjoyed the article as much for knowing the writer as for Chef Utterback’s cultural and culinary flare. Seems they both paved their own unusual paths and followed their passions to find incredible, yet humble success. Job well done on both sides of the interview.
KURT JOHNSON can be reached at kjohnson@ hamilton.net