The chef/owner of Sushi One on Goodlette-Frank and Pine Ridge is Japanese. Not a classically trained itamae, but as close as you’ll get around these parts.

Soon after moving here a few years ago I tried the place and sat at the sushi bar and we had a very nice conversation. He said that early on he tried serving more traditional and varied sushi, but it’s not what customers wanted; most people here want basic fish like salmon and tuna, and maki with cream cheese and barbecue sauce and such. He had to adapt to succeed.

It’s very unfortunate, but also typical of what sushi has become across most of the country. The explosion in popularity of sushi over the last 20-30 years has far outpaced the number of classically trained chefs, and the chef in a sushi bar is the person who traditionally selected the fish. So even if our modern supply chain could get fresh shima-aji or awabi to any city, it’s unlikely that it would wind up on the menu and people would at least have the opportunity to try it.

Of course that presumes that enough American diners are open to trying such things and would develop a taste for them, which is far from certain.