Omakase (1979) and Omusubi (1991)

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OMAKASE--17,500 Google hits, 798 Google Groups hits
OMUSUBI--4,150 Google hits, 71 Google Groups hits
OMAKASE--204 Factiva hits
OMUSUBI--25 Factiva hits

  The revised OED has gotta have "omakase." It should be in the next revision.  But you never know.
  "Omakase" and "omusubi" were mentioned this week in a restaurant review of Oms/b.


(FACTIVA)
WRAPPED TREATS MORE THAN FILLING
By CYNTHIA KILIAN
335 words
31 March 2004
New York Post
44

OMS/B

1/2 (two and one half stars)

156 E. 45TH ST. (BETWEEN THIRD AND LEXINGTON AVENUES) (212) 922-9788

THE current Japanese food wave that brought the $500 omakase menu to town has also washed ashore a $6.50 omusubi meal at Oms/b, a stylish little rice ball caf.

The omusubi maker in the front window shows how the rice balls are made: She places rice in a mold, then a dab of filling, more rice, then wraps the disc with nori and finishes with a dollop of filling..

Like sushi, but bigger - meant as a snack, lunch or even breakfast to go.

They come in various shapes, layered with everything from traditional eel to Western-inspired novelties such as pastrami. Three pieces and soup make a $6.50 set; individually, they cost $1.50 to $2.50. (...)


(FACTIVA)
A WELL-ROUNDED DISH
IRENE SAX
199 words
7 February 2004
New York Daily News
SPORTS FINAL
26
English
Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.

Omusubi is a Japanese dish that is portable, bite-size, and usually made of seaweed, rice and fish. But it's not sushi or sashimi, because the fillings are never raw.

You can sample omusubi at OMS/b, a new shop with white tiles and polished wood tables where they make the rice balls in both traditional and innovative forms.

The traditional ones are pouches of black seaweed packed with sticky rice and fillings - pickles ($1.50), Japanese plums ($1.50), fried shrimp ($1.75) or salmon roe ($2).

Nontraditional omusubi loses the seaweed entirely and gets its flavoring from Western-style fillings: pastrami ($2), prosciutto ($2) or tuna with mayonnaise ($1.50).

"Here, we make them for you, but in Japan people make their own," says OMS/b manager Ayano Izumi.

"They hold the cooked rice in one hand, add a filling and roll it into a ball. It's a casual food that you can take along with you, the way you would a bagel, a hot dog or a slice of pizza."

OMS/b, 156 E. 45th St. (212) 922-9788.


(FACTIVA)(first "omakase")
TORONTO MAGAZINE
TORONTO I resolve to find...
4,521 words
18 December 1987
The Globe and Mail
P27; (ILLUS)
(...)
GODZILLA'S COMING] GRAB LUNCH QUICK] Some people have no time for sushi (like the cab driver in Desperately Seeking Susan who confided, "You know what I do? I take it home and fry it"). But for weight-conscious gourmands, Japanese sushi has long been a low-cal delight. The Takesushi Restaurant, 22 Front St. W. (862-1891), offers a special 20-piece lunch-time, take-out sushi selection called Omakase Sushi, from $22 to $26. Head chef Kumai selects each day's Omakase special from the best and the freshest of the available fish; each day's catch might contain such treats as raw tuna, abalone and sea urchin.


(FACTIVA)
  ESCAPADE EATERIES & OTHER HAUNTS There's more to Japanese than just sushi
KIMM CULKIN
745 words
21 April 1990
The Globe and Mail
P74
(...)
For a minute, it seemed better to have a dinner companion. The Omakase, a complicated feast requiring a day's notice, was available only for two or more (at $60.00 per person). So was the Nabemono, another complete meal whose main course (sirloin beef), was cooked at the table, and the Love Boat ($29.00 per person), which might have been worth it just to have your food arrive in a small wooden boat - soup a la sloop? Ketch of the day?


(FACTIVA)
ADVENTURES IN DINING
Eve Zibart
4,263 words
12 April 1991
The Washington Post
FINAL
(...)
To dine on the kaiseki menu, you sit (after taking off your shoes; don't wear boots that lace to the knee) in one of Unkai's three tatami rooms. Although the kimono-clad waitresses will remain kneeling, the floor-level tables actually have pits underneath for the dangling legs of Occidental diners. There are several types of multi-course dinners (tempura, sushi) but the most exhilirating version is the chef's choice or omakase, which frees the itamae to invent whatever dishes the seasonal fresh market inspires.


(FACTIVA)(first "omusubi")
Otafuku Sauce has launched "Omusubi Jozu," a new commercial-use oil for use in making rice balls.
86 words
1 September 1991
New Food Products in Japan Pacific Research Consulting, Inc.
Vol. 16, No. 9
English
COPYRIGHT 1991 by Pacific Research Consulting, Inc.

To use, add 100g of the product to 1.4kg of rice and 2.1 liters of water and cook. Then, (1) the rice cooker will not cause scorches, (2) boiled rice will be thoroughly removed from the cooker, (3) boiled rice becomes glossy and (4) boiled rice does not stick to the hands or utensils when processing. Retail price is (Y)800 per 1.1-kg PET bottle.


(FACTIVA)
SEVEN-ELEVEN SCORES 6-MONTH EARNINGS RISE.
357 words
12 October 1995
Jiji Press English News Service
English
(c) 1995

_F Tokyo, Oct. 12 (Jiji Press)-Seven-Eleven Japan Co. said Thursday it again pulled off a steady earnings growth for the first half to August, logging a recurring profit of 52,435 million yen, up 5.2 pct from a year earlier.

Brisk demand for a new line of "omusubi" rice balls and compact lunch boxes, coupled with improved sales of soft drinks, ice cream, beer and other food products, shaved 0.4 percentage point off the firm's costs-to-sales ratio, to 30.1 pct, company officials said.



(GOOGLE GROUPS)(omakase)
Re: KOR: Tree of Memories
... _^ and maybe the double pony tail girl too (oops forget the name :p) BTW, did anyone do the translations for Omakase Hurricane in vol.7 of KOR manga (p115-135 ...
alt.manga - May 13, 1992 by Tonghyun Kim - View Thread (27 articles)

Re: TaihoShichauzo (was:Re: Bloody Angels???)
... For stocking buddies stories try Futari Ni Omakase. And you think AMG is brain dead.. hehe I've heard this a couple of times, what's that? Patrick YIP
alt.manga - Apr 10, 1992 by Patrick C Yip - View Thread (3 articles)

Re: Opinions?
... If you like more realistic accounts of Police Women stories check out "Futarini Omakase" by the same dude who does Dear Boys. B-> Bloody Angels is okay. ...
alt.manga - Jan 23, 1992 by david mou - View Thread (11 articles)


(GOOGLE GROUPS)(omusubi)
Re: O'nigeri - A Question, A request
... have had them, what do you think of them? Yes it is oNigiri (not
O'nigeri)(stress on the second syllable); also called oMusubi. ...
alt.food.sushi - Jul 18, 1996 by Satoru Miyazaki - View Thread (3 articles)

Re: Japanese: Uses for umeboshi?
... I like it lots better than the ones you find in a bottle with the pits still intact,
but it's probably me just being lazy!) Omusubi: Moisten your hands with ...
rec.food.cooking - Jan 18, 1995 by kcurr - View Thread (10 articles)

Re: Anybody else seen CRAYON SHIN-CHAN...?
... Genkai Anpan-man Anpan-man (flying) Baikin-man (flying) Curry pan-man (flying)
Dokin-chan (flying) Cheese (flying) Tendon-man (flying) Omusubi-man (flying ...
rec.arts.anime - Nov 22, 1993 by Hitoshi Doi - View Thread (9 articles)


(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)(35 NYT hits for "omakase")
   1. Restaurants; Japanese find, French posh. Hakubai Le Terminus
Mimi Sheraton. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Oct 19, 1979. p. C20 (1 page):
   The omakase lunch or dinner is in the spirit of a French restaurant's menu de gustation--a parade of small portions of many dishes for those who seek variety.

   2. The Japanese Influence in Ramsey
By VALERIE SINCLAIR. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Jan 29, 1984. p. NJ23 (1 page)

   3. The Cream of the State's Restaurant Crop; The Cream of the Restaurant Crop
By VALERIE SINCLAIR. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Jan 6, 1985. p. N_J_1 (2 pages)

   4. Extensive Menus at 2 Japanese Places
By VALERIE SINCLAIR. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York, N.Y.: Aug 18, 1991. p. NJ17 (1 page)


(There are no "omusubi" hits on ProQuest Historical Newspapers--ed.)