Every time sushi comes up in the coversation there is the battle between Sushi Den and 'your favorite sushi spot'. Many people loathe Sushi Den because of the wait, the unbending reservation policy, the trendiness or whatever beef they have with the reigning sushi champion of Denver. On the other hand, many people love Sushi Den for similar reasons...
The majority of my sushi outings involve Sushi Den. I'm not sure why it's become my default sushi establishment, but much of the reason is the 'quality' or perception of 'quality' associated with the restaurant.
The owners wrote the book on the American sushi process of buying fish from Japan and flying it the same day Stateside to offer the freshest and best ingredients. And thus begins the perception...
Sushi Den may or may not be the best sushi restaurant in Denver, but as long as people say it is, it will be. It's similar to any of your favorite places. You go out to your most frequented establishment and the chef or owner comes over to say, 'hi', and you respond, 'Oh good, you're here. Everything's better when you're here". In actuality, the chef is not doing the cooking and the owner is not doing the serving. The staff is doing the fundamental work. But, if the circumstances make you believe the resturant is better, is it? Yes. Which brings me back to Sushi Den. As long as people believe it's better for one reason or another (mine being the freshness and quality of fish) it will continue to flourish. More business means more turnover means fresher products and better fish. So, coincidentally, the perception of greatness becomes greatness.
Given, you can't always wait an hour or more for a table at Sushi Den, so you go to your other 'favorite sushi spot'. In hand, you make that restaurant busier and hopefully better. So, is Sushi Den's perception of greatness actually making every other sushi restaurant better?
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