I’m totally addicted to sushi. But sushi is not what it used to be. Actually, I’ll say that sushi is not what it’s supposed to be. Traditionally, sushi is a very simple and pure food. The rolls that are commonplace in the US don’t even exist in Japan. A Japanese guy told me once that they wouldn’t even consider that type of food to be sushi.

 By contrast, real sushi is unadulterated and it’s very simple: a slice of high quality fish on a small, slightly warm ball of rice with just the right amount of vinegar and a touch of wasabi. In many cuisines, experimentation and fusion of styles is encouraged but that is not the case with sushi. There isn’t a whole lot to it and there shouldn’t be distractions when consuming sushi. Sushi is a true purist’s food and there’s absolutely nothing else like it!

 But the simplicity of sushi belies the difficulty of making it. If you’ve seen Jiro Dreams of Sushi, you know that something like preparing a baked egg cake can take years to master if it’s made the right way. That sort of unrelenting focus and effort is what I aspire to as an entrepreneur. In the same way that sushi gives me so much joy, I want to build a product that delivers a simple and pure value proposition because I think customers will appreciate that. Just as I don’t like crazy rolls with lots of ingredients, I don’t want to deceive the customer with too many bells and whistles. I think that having too many ingredients in sushi (or too many features in a product) makes it easy to conceal basic flaws. By contrast, creating a simple yet delicious piece of sushi is really difficult. It’s even harder to innovate while keeping things simple. 

  To master the art of sushi, a chef has to make a lifelong commitment to sushi as a craft. The chef has to stick to strong basic values and resist following the latest trends. DailyLook’s central ideal is about providing the best styling and fashion inspiration. Everything we do has to fall in line with that goal and we have to be disciplined in order to stick with our philosophy. 

 I don’t love sushi just because it’s delicious or healthy. It represents what I strive for: quality, simplicity and purity. This is why sushi is my vice.