Pure Cap Nights, Red Velvet Mornings

Mendrick Leelin is a third generation restaurateur with a simmering desire to embed his rendition of Japanese culinary tradition into mainstream America. Located on the same block as FIDM in DTLA, Yojie is a Japanese Fondue and Sake Restaurant that Leelin opened at the beginning of the year. This metropolitan eatery is unassuming on the outside, but stylized on the inside. Custom built, stainless steal hoods extend across the ceiling, lending to Yojie’s slick aesthetic as clubby music thumps away like we’re about to stay up all night with glow sticks. Culinary Junkie @chefmike and myself were intrigued by this place and the ambition behind its team as we took a seat before the steam.

Our hostess ordered and the feast slowly rolled in. We began a two and a half hour lunch sipping green tea and miso soup. Beautiful garlic, green onion and Daikon— a pickled sweet radish, arrived at our table followed by thinly sliced free-range chicken and grass-fed Angus beef. I like my meat cooked medium, so I dropped it into the Worishita broth for just a few seconds— the heat released the tenderness and just when it reached a slight pink, I bi-passed the pasteurized egg, unlike @chefmike, clearly a more thrill-seeking Junkie, and moved my meat to the citrus soy marinade. Out of the marinade and into a bowl of brown rice, where it picked up a scoop before making its final descent into my mouth. After a beat of satisfaction it was time for another.

Following a serious warning from our hostess, a small medicinal case found it’s way to our table, and from it, a bottle of “Pure Cap” was drawn. The way our hostess made it sound, this stuff was liquid fire. I passed on the experience— thought it would be more fun to watch. One drop is enough our hostess said, and @chefmike said, “I’ll take two”.

She squeezed two small drops into the pasteurized egg that was given to each of us as a way to neutralize the sweetness of the broth. @chefmike stirred with chopsticks for a second and then put one chopstick into his mouth for a taste. He got a concentration of Pure Cap hit smack on the center of his tongue, so intense that I thought we might have to call the fire department. Lucky for @chefmike, we didn’t.

Flavor hit a high note on dessert. Rice crispy triangles dramatically drenched in red velvet fondue… yes, I swear, its true. At the behest of a wickedly domineering sweet tooth, this Junkie couldn’t stop eating the stuff until it was gone. @chefmike’s first Shabu Shabu experience was cooked up home-style by someone’s grandma when he was visiting New York City as a kid. It wasn’t until I entered my third decade of existence and accompanying obsessive participation in the Culinary Junkie landscape, that I experienced the world of Shabu Shabu, Japanese fondue and the melt in your mouth merriment that is Udon. While this increasingly dedicated eating lifestyle might have brought on an immensely enjoyable Sunday afternoon with hot red velvet pleasure in a dish, what really excites me is knowing that there is still a lifetime of waking up to do.

Note: Half-priced beer and one-dollar sake happy hour everyday from 3-6pm and bottomless sangria for five bucks on Sunday.

Yojie Shabu Shabu

501 West Olympic Boulevard

DTLA – (213) 988-8808‎