The flower of Coeur d'Alene
Desire` Aguirre
Issue date: 2/8/10 Section: Entertainment
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The Syringa, located on Fourth Ave. and Walnut Ave, owned by Viljo and Autumn Basso, opened in 2004. Viljo Basso, 37, went to Portland's Western Culinary Institute and worked as an intern and chef at a French cuisine restaurant in Seattle while moonlighting as a sushi chef at Mashiko, a Japanese restaurant. Later, he helped open Saito's Café and Sushi Bar. After Viljo married Autumn, they returned to Coeur d'Alene and opened their restaurant.
Syringa serves Japanese cuisine, such as tempura, edaname, noodles, sashimi and sushi. Sushi, raw fish served rolled inside or around dried and pressed sheets of nori (seaweed) has become popular in the United States and can be purchased at Safeway. However, there is nothing better than watching a pro prepare fresh Sushi and having it showcased in its visual and glory.
Although the restaurant is small, it has been rated the number one Japanese restaurant in Coeur d'Alene, has a five-star rating with Yahoo Travel and is in the top five Asian restaurants in the Spokane area.
Sushi chef Hiroshi Nishimori has worked at Syringa for four years.
"I love working here," Nishimori said. "What I do is an art-form. It's very creative."
Indeed, the best seat in the house is at the Sushi bar where one can view the chef preparing their food.
Nishimori said that the sea bass and poke are favorite dishes, but he recommended the Sushi platter, promising to include escolar, something I had never tried. We started with edaname, a preparation of baby soybeans boiled with garlic and salt.
We also ordered poke, diced tuna served with seaweed, soy sauce, green onions, sesame seeds and togarashimi spice, placed in a ring of avocadoes and Yakisiba noodles prepared with an assortment of seafood.
"The Yokisiba is wonderful," DaNae Aguirre said. "It has clams, scallops, white and red fish and mushrooms."
The large sushi platter ($18) had tuna, albacore, salmon, shrimp, octopus and escolar served on top of rice and several traditional sushi rolls. We shared our platters so we could have a taste of everything.
The meals come with a choice of miso or wild mushroom soup. I opted for the fragrant, rich and creamy mushroom topped with wasabi foam (it has the texture of sour cream). The soup, filling and delicious, warmed up my throat, and the wasabi burned down to my toes.
If you're on a college budget, The Syringa is the perfect place to take that special person for Valentine's Day.
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