Third grade was a big year for Tobi Miller. He met Jakob Dylan — son of Bob Dylan — with whom he later co-founded the Grammy-award winning band “The Wallflowers.” He also befriended his future food-service business partner Richard Gottlieb.
Last month also marked a major milestone. That’s when Gottlieb and Miller launched the second location of their Japanese barbecue and sushi restaurant, Sosogu. It’s now open at the Long Beach Exchange.
The restaurant prides itself on high-quality ingredients and fresh seafood, including bluefin tuna, king salmon, blue crab, sea bream and more, Miller said.
Guests can grill their own Japanese A5 wagyu steak on one of 17 infrared grills imported from Japan.
The grills keep all the smoke inside and provide “a better sear” with “a more even cook,” Miller said.
Sosogu also offers sushi coursings with a set selection of fresh fish. The So Lite option, for $27, comes with six different seafood dishes and edamame.
The Soso Sumo choice, for $59, comes with 10 separate sushi dishes and edamame.
Another menu highlight is the Nagoya-style wing, named for the Japanese city that popularized them.
Sosogu, which means “pour it up” in Japanese, also has a full bar with an array of sake, Japanese whisky and schochu.
Guests can order a tasting flight of sake or Japanese whisky and ask for a booklet with more information on each offering, Miller said.
Miller’s passion for Japanese cuisine dates back at least two decades, when he first ate at Sushi Nozawa in Studio City, he said.
The restaurant, started by Japanese sushi chef Kazunori Nozawa in 1987, introduced Tokyo-style sushi to the region. Miller recalled that anyone who ordered a California roll was kicked out of the restaurant, which shuttered in 2012.
Nozawa now operates a chain of high-end sushi restaurants around Los Angeles called Sugarfish.
The first Sosogu location opened in Redlands in 2022, but Miller said he considers the Long Beach location the “flagship store.”
At 3,500 square feet, it’s almost twice the size and seats three times more people than the Redlands location, Miller said.
His transition from the music business to the restaurant business came about “organically,” Miller said.
After roughly 15 years in the music industry — split among “The Wallflowers,” producing and engineering — Miller went to college to pursue a career in commercial real estate.
Through that, he had a commercial space available and decided to start a restaurant with Gottlieb, Miller said.
They started their first venture, LemonShark Poké, in 2016. The restaurant now has locations in Culver City, Yucaipa and East Highland.
With Sosogu, Miller had a hand in designing the restaurant and the menu and chose the music for the restaurant.
The restaurant’s ambience is of supreme importance to Miller, he said.
At Sosogu’s Redlands location, he went as far as gluing the volume knob so staff couldn’t change it.
“If I walk into a restaurant, especially my restaurant, and the music’s not there. I just feel like there’s something missing from my soul. It hurts me inside,” Miller said.
Sosogu, 3860 Worsham Ave. Suite 300, is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursdays and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
The restaurant will hold a grand opening celebration on March 22 and 23 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day with 25% off all sushi coursings and half-off all signature cocktails.