Last year, Ben and I attended the Kumamoto Earthquake Relief Charity Golf and Wine Auction event at Silverado Country Club. One of the top auction items was a private dinner for four by Iron Chef Morimoto. We had to have it, so we bid on the item and won! Winner winner sushi dinner!


Fast forward to a year later, Ben and I are now vegan and the dinner date has been set. We were thinking of giving up our seats up for this dinner because we weren’t sure if Morimoto would make something vegan for us. I’m so glad we didn’t back out because Chef Morimoto went above and beyond with our vegan dinner!

First Course: Sweet Corn Soup

Second Course: Fresh veggies, with himalyan salt

Third Course: Fresh veggies with  hot oil dipping sauce

The entire team at Morimoto Napa had planned out every little detail of our dinner which made the whole night special. Each course had its own pairing of wine or sake. Our waiter explained every wine he poured, and why this particular wine pairs well with our dish. He was very knowledgeable on the sake as well, educating us on what grain of rice was used to produce the kind of sake we were drinking. We sat down at a table and started off with bubbles to cleanse our palate and shortly after, we began our first course.

Fourth Course: Radish Noodles in a spicy tomato sauce

Strawberry Palate Cleanser

After our first few courses, they escorted us to the sushi bar, where Chef Morimoto handmade us vegan nigiri and sushi!

Smoked Bell Pepper Nigiri

Pickled Eggplant Nigiri

Grilled Onion Handroll

Fresh scallions and Ginger Handroll

Fresh cucumber rolls

After a lot of sushi and sake, they escorted us back to our table, and continued on with the main course of dinner.

Main Course #1: Grilled Tofu - made to look like Unagi

Main Course #2: Grilled Mushrooms in Curry Sauce with white rice

Main Course #3: Cauliflower Steak

A few times Chef Morimoto came by the table to check on us and asked if we thought the tofu looked like tuna! And yes! It really did! He was really proud of his vegan creations. As he should be because everything was amazing.

Morimoto Cabernet Sauvignon

After what seemed like twenty courses and twenty glasses of wine and sake later, we had our final course. Dessert. Which was a beautiful and delicious trio of sorbet.

Dessert: Sorbet trio: Strawberry, Green tea, Honey dew

Morimoto created this neat art stained design on a napkin with vegetables


When dinner had come to an end, we realized we had been dining for five hours! The dinner was exceptional. Thank you to Chef Morimoto and the team at Morimoto Napa for giving us an unforgettable experience and giving us the best dinner and service I’ve ever had.

Ben, Jenn & Morimoto