Phillip Frankland Lee Adds Surprise Sushi Counter to Encino Strip Mall Empire

Chef Phillip Frankland Lee surprised media last night with a multi-course omakase meal from a newly-built private sushi counter, hidden inside a formerly unused back room at his cocktail lounge Woodley Proper. The eight-seat affair doesn’t officially have a name, but it does open for business tonight.

Here’s how the whole thing works: Lee, along with two or three other staffers, will be manning the bar for meals set at certain times of night, Wednesday through Sunday. Guests who want to participate in a tasting will have to sign up their names on a bit of chalkboard inside Woodley Proper, assuming there are still slots available. Once, say, the 7 p.m. seating is booked up, anyone still interested will have to wait for the next showing, like at a movie theater or casino poker room.

Matthew Kang

Lee presented his first sit-down sushi experience to two rounds of media last night, of which Eater was a part. The meal is far from hyper-traditional Japanese cuisine, and as a person with little formal background in sushi Lee says he is not necessarily interested in even trying to go that route.

He does wax poetic about some of his experiences at places like Urasawa, where he dined as a young line cook, and says this unnamed sushi bar is kind of a sanctuary for him in the middle of all he already has going on in Encino — not to mention his other projects further up the coast.

Phillip Frankland Lee’s sushi counter opens tonight inside Woodley Proper, so anyone looking to get a particular seating should arrive early to secure some chalkboard space. The price is $110 a head, with an optional add-on cocktail and drink pairing. Seated timings are 5 p.m., 7 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Woodley Proper
16101 Ventura Blvd. #245
Encino, CA

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