$100 certificate to s.h.u  - Sushi House Unico

Shu is the brainchild of Giacomino Drago, the well-known restaurateur and chef of several restaurants including Il Pastaio and Piccolo Paradiso in Beverly Hills, and Mauricio Oberfeld, a young real estate developer. Drago and Oberfeld set out to completely transform the former location of a Japanese restaurant in the Beverly Glen Center in Bel Air into Shu Sushi House Unico. For the partners, coming up with the name was an exercise in linguistics. “We loved the word ‘Unico’ which means unique in both Spanish and Italian, and ‘Shu’ means ‘a place of gathering’ in Japanese, so we thought that Shuwas a perfect acronym for Sushi House Unico,” says Oberfeld.

The menu features traditional dishes as well as signature offerings, inspired by Drago’s love of blending Japananse, Italian and Latin cuisines. “As it is, there are a lot of similarities between Italian and Japanese food,” says Drago. “Both offer their versions of carpaccios and sashimis, or fish and seafood, rice and pastas.”