08/09/2026
some of you are new here, so let me explain one of the dumbest and best things I ever made.
THE GUCCI SUSHI.
In 2016 I opened Wikiwiki with a second mortgage on my house, a refrigerator full of ingredients I barely understood, and the unearned confidence of a person who thought “Chipotle for sushi” was going to make him rich.
lol.
I was also psychotically obsessed with freshness. Every morning started with me eating a spoonful of tobiko to make sure it was still good. Every night ended with us scraping whatever fish was left into staff bowls because I refused to hold it overnight.
One night after work we stopped at Wealthy Market for b**r and discovered Rap Snacks. Fabolous was on the bag. Obviously we bought them.
The next night, somebody crumbled some over a staff bowl.
This was very stupid.
Then I added some miso ranch from a salad nobody was ordering.
Even stupider.
Then sriracha. Sesame seeds. More sesame seeds.
Wait.
This fu***ng rules.
Around the same time, one of our first sushi reps, Vince — a Vietnamese immigrant who had worked at Eleven Madison Park and taught me an enormous amount about Japanese ingredients — had a habit of calling anything cool “gucci.”
So onto the specials board went:
THE GUCCI SUSHI.
Ahi tuna. Salmon. Shrimp. Lemon-chive krab salad. Miso ranch. Sriracha. Sesame. Crushed Rap Snacks.
Ten years later, I still think it might be the best thing I ever made.
Not because it was particularly sophisticated. It wasn’t. It happened by accident.
But it became the perfect Wikiwiki dish: Japanese ingredients, American junk food, hip-hop, restaurant-worker dinner, highbrow and lowbrow all smashed together with absolutely no concern for whether any of it was supposed to be there.
For those of you who have joined us since the restaurants closed: this is what we’re about.
And tomorrow night, Gucci is back.
MONDAY NIGHT • 📍BATCHES Shared Kitchen • EASTOWN
Preorder for pickup. Those on the list get the link. You’re on it right? It’s Gucci time.
welcome to Wikiwiki.
