When the sushi trench first emerged in America in the mid 80s, only Japanese restaurants served the raw fish dishes, and they were more novelty than mainstream.

But today, the hot, hip chefs of all cuisines are all eager to embrace the trend that goes hand in hand with Asian influences seen on menus everywhere.

Mark Militello, owner of Mark's CityPlace, was ahead of the curve, preparing Asian foods at Mark's in the Park in Boca Raton and Mark's Place in Miami long before the rest of South Florida's restaurant scene caught on.

For his new restaurant in CityPlace, open barely a month, a sushi bar was a natural lift. It forms a serene semicircle in front of the bustle of the exhibition kitchen in the middle of the dining room. Bar patrons on the upper level can overlook the action.

"If they're done right, the sushi bars and the foods are beautiful. It's like having one restaurant inside another," says Mike Sabin, corporate chef for the Mark's restaurants. "But they fit together well. That's one of the reasons we wanted (sushi chef) Roy (Villacrusis), because he matches our concept. You can't bastardize traditional foods-you have to keep tradition behind them before you change anything, and Roy follows that same thinking."

But the bottom line of the sushi boom? Well, it's the bottom line, Sabin says. Sushi is profitable because it's a dinner draw.

"I hate to say it, but you have to stay on the bandwagon, so to speak. I think a lot of people expect sushi on menus now. It's appealing to everyone with the simplified sophistication, the art presentation. You have to keep up or you die," he says.

And West Palm Beach diners have certainly shown an affinity for raw fish and rice.

"The acceptance here is over-whelming. Right off the bat, we were doing numbers we didn't expect. We know volume from Mark's at the Park, and we were way up the minute we opened," Sabin says. The Boca restaurant doesn't have a sushi restaurant - too much competition with sushi bars nearby.

Villacrusis says some of the business comes from a customer base he developed while working at Sakura, in Palm Beach Gardens. "They know me, and followed me here," he says. (Diners often become fans of sushi chefs, who produce special rolls just for them.)

"Yes, I have a special roll, I call it the Rolls Roy's. It's a katsura make roll, made with thin sliced cucumber-and no rice."

And while Villacrusis agreed to demonstrate sushi-rolling, step by step, he wouldn't divulge the secret of his rice.

"It's traditional rice, but with a little extra. I use some sake and other things," he says smiling. "Every sushi chef does it different."

His menacingly sharp knife peeled a continuous, paper-thing layer of cucumber for a roll. Though it appeared simple, perfecting the technique has "cost me a lot of cucumbers," he admits.

The cucumber is the wrapper for a filling of nori, crabmeat, pickled daikon and scallions. A sprinkling of sesame seeds and fish roe are added as garnish.

Here's his advice for making good sushi.

• Have a good fillet knife. Villacrusis has several but most often uses a 12-inch Yanagi, a carbon-steel blade favored by top sushi chefs.

• Use the freshest ingredients possible. "You need really fresh, good quality fish, he says. "You should always freeze it first before using it, to kill any parasites that might be in it."

• Be picky about the rice, one of the most important ingredients in sushi. "You need short-grained rice that's preferably 2 months old. You don't want the new crop. In the older rice, the moisture has already dried out. It keeps the rice form being too sticky. You ant to see each grain, but it should still hold together." That's where the vinegar comes in. A rice-wine vinegar is mixed with the rice to keep it moist but separate. Chefs vary other ingredients.

• The seaweed wrapper, or nori, should be crisp and shiny but not brittle. You must be able to roll it. Unused packages should be kept in airtight containers, or in a tin after being wrapped in plastic.

• Finally, make the sushi a work of art. Colors, textures and shapes should be balanced, "Just like your diet, your life," Villacrusis says. "I am an artist, and that's what got me into sushi. The colors and shapes thrill me. That's what sushi is: an edible art."

This recipe is from sushi chef Roy Villacrusis at Mark's CityPlace. Oshi tashi is soy-blanched spinach served with a sesame dressing; it complements sushi platters and can be served as a first course or with the raw fish.

OSHI TASHI

Ü sheet kombu (dried kelp-see note)
Ü cup (approximately) bonito flakes, plus extra for garnish
2 green onions, trimmed, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, plus extra for garnish
3 tablespoons of soy sauce, plus a dash
1 bag (8 ounces) fresh spinach, washed well and trimmed of thick stems lemon slices for garnish

Equipment:
Bamboo mat
strainer
mortar and pestle

Begin by making a dashi stock: Mix 4 cups water, Ü kombu sheet and bonito flakes in a soup pot. Heat over medium heat until boiling, but remove kombu with strainer just before mixture boils.

Boil for 3 minutes; remove from heat. Let stand until mixture rests; strain into bowl and back into pot, and set aside.  Chop green onions finely; set aside. Grind sesame seed in mortar; set aside.

In a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons soy sauce, ground sesame seeds and 1 tablespoon sesame oil; this will be used as a dressing. Return dashi stock to medium-high heat; add a dash of soy sauce to the pot. Once boiling, drop in the spinach leaves and blanch for 1 minute or just until wilted. Remove spinach to a strainer and drain well; reserve stock for another use if desired.

Place strained, spinach on bamboo mat. Using the mat, roll up tightly into a log shape. (Place mat over paper towels to catch any liquid in spinach.)  Cut rolled spinach into 1 á-inch pieces.

To serve, place spinach piece into a bowl, standing on edge. Drizzle the spinach with prepared soy-sesame dressing. Garnish with extra sesame seeds, bonito flakes and lemon slices as desired.
Makes 6 appetizer servings.

Variations: The chef advises altering the flavor to individual tastes by adding mirin for a sweeter flavor and rice vinegar for a tart flavor.
Note: The ingredients and equipment for this dish and basic sushi are available at most Oriental markets and in some super-markets that carry ethnic products.

1. Laying out the nori (seaweed wrapper), chef Roy Villacrusis spreads the prepared, vinegared rice evenly over it, leaving the top half-inch of the nori uncovered.

2. The nori is transferred to the rolling mat, and the other filling ingredients are added. In the tuna roll here, the chef uses carefully cut tuna, pickled daikon (radish) and pea sprouts. The filling should line up with the edges of the nori. The chef allows the pea sprouts to overhang the roll for artistic effect.

3. The sushi is the rolled, using the mat. The rice on the bottom should meet the rice on the top,' the chef says. It should be rolled tightly, but not smashed. The finished roll should be perfectly round when viewed from the side. Chef Villacrusis uses his fingers to tamp in the ends of the roll to keep the pieces neat once they're cut.

4. Using an ultra-sharp fillet knife, the chef slices each roll into four equal pieces.

5. The finished roll, artfully arranged with wasabi (green Japanese horseradish), pickled ginger, fresh lemon slices and carved vegetables.
   
   
   The finished sushi arrangement should be pleasing to the eye and balanced on the plate with color. Here, the chef has made the two end pieces with the overhanging pea sprouts appear as small bonsai on the dish.