When envisioning how he thought his new restaurant would fit into the LA food landscape, Shon Morgan said he wanted a nice lunch spot close to his office.

Morgan, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, assumed it would be people like him who would patronize Q Sushi: lawyers and other business people who wanted an upscale option during the workday.

“We thought our staple would be business people at lunch who wanted expense account lunches and that we would probably not do as well at dinner,” Morgan said. “What happened was that because of all the critical response, the foodies got us and took to us.”

That was in 2013; now, nearly six years later, Q Sushi—which is co-owned by three Quinn Emanuel partners and features Chef Hiroyuki Naruke—this week earned a Michelin star as the tire company reintroduced its prestigious food guide to California.

“We're most excited for Hiro,” Morgan said. “He's the restaurant; we just created the platform.”

When Quinn Emanuel opened its Tokyo office in 2007, the opportunity provided Morgan, chair of the firm's class action practice, along with founder John Quinn and Tokyo office head Ryan Goldstein, plenty of time in the city to enjoy its best sushi offerings. Goldstein introduced his colleagues to Hiro at his restaurant in Tokyo—and they quickly became regulars.

“It was this sort of magical experience,” Morgan said of the dining experience, which included fewer than 10 seats in the entire restaurant and featured seemingly endless sushi placed in front of him. “You never knew what was coming next.”

Morgan, Quinn and Goldstein often joked about bringing Hiro to the United States to be their personal chef, but it wasn't until the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that the conversation turned to reality. In the wake of the natural disaster, Hiro's business was struggling, but the trio saw an opportunity for new beginnings in Los Angeles, where Quinn Emanuel is headquartered.

“I thought LA had become a pretty advanced, world-class sushi market, but the stuff I was getting from Chef Hiro blew me away,” said Morgan. “His sushi and preparation style was different than anything being done in LA”

During the next two years, Hiro and the team consulted with prominent sushi chefs to ensure they were bringing something new to the market. What they found surprised them: most of even the best sushi in the United States is ill-proportioned and laden with sugar compared with the traditional Japanese style.

“You're burying this wonderful fish in sugar,” Morgan said. “That was sort of an ah-ha moment: even the most established sushi chefs say they departed from tradition.”

Q Sushi (the “Q” stands for Quinn) finally opened its doors in Los Angeles in 2013 and found immediate success, along with the other notable restaurants that have made the downtown area their home in recent years.

“Fortuitously, [downtown LA] has become a nighttime destination,” Morgan said. “Hardcore foodies who are willing to travel have become our best patrons.”

In early 2019, Michelin announced it would be returning to the west coast to publish a California guide, marking the first time it has reviewed Los Angeles restaurants in a decade. In its review, the guide complimented Q Sushi on its vintage Japanese decorations that “bring a certain soul and spirit to the space;” Hiro, who “gracefully prepares each course and thoughtfully serves each diner—virtually from his own hands;” and the overall experience: “The complete and sublime pleasure of dining here extends right to the custardy tamago, layering soft eggs and a savory shrimp purée.”

Morgan said he and his business partners can only take credit for a small part of the accolades: the interior, which they spent millions of dollars decorating to strike a balance that would complement the food.

“We wanted a space that was going to be commensurate with the food,” Morgan said. “It's been gratifying that that's reflected in a lot of the commentary.”

Morgan said Quinn regularly visits Japan and brings back vintage art pieces to decorate the space; notably, a pair of 18th-century Japanese paintings that were only hung on the wall for a week before someone accidentally poked their elbow through one (after being restored by the J. Paul Getty Museum, the paintings came back to the restaurant—although they're now behind a Plexiglas barrier).

Beyond the decorations, Morgan said Hiro deserves all the praise.

“He's a very quiet, unassuming guy who wouldn't go out and create a persona for himself,” Morgan said. “It's a testament in a celebrity chef-driven world that a quiet, tiny restaurant found its way without having a patron out there giving it more publicity.”