Dinner and a show at Mitsuwa

Hundreds of people crowded Saturday into Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights. The draw? A rare chance to see a fresh 400-pound bluefin tuna carved into sashimi.

Camera-toting patrons clamored to get near to take picture of the huge fish. Those relegated to the back rows could look up to the mirrored ceiling panels to watch the dramatic display.

"I had to see how they did it," Tony Russo of Algonquin said. "I came for the demonstration -- and the spectacle."

Likewise, Jim Reese of Arlington Heights said he had seen a similar display before at the Tokyo Fish Market, but the chance to see it in the Northwest suburbs was an unexpected treat.

"You don't see it done very often," Reese said.

Store officials concurred, adding that the last time they cut up a bluefin tuna in the store was four years ago.

"In Japan, cutting up a bluefin tuna is a famous show," store supervisor Hitoshi Urasaki said. "Now that the bluefin tuna is so rare, it's getting harder to see something like this, even in Japan."

The tuna was caught off the coast of Spain and flown in fresh, store officials said.

A crew of professional chefs sprinkled the floor with salt before they started cutting, both to keep from slipping while holding the sharp knives and as part of a ritual to bless the space.

They then donned thick gloves before wielding the samurai-like swords to open the fish.

When they raised the sword to cut open the length of the fish's back, the crowd gasped in awe. Store officials explained that the fish's skin was very hard and tough, which is why they needed the razor-sharp swords.

The chefs removed the back quarter first, and began slicing up the prime steaks, while another chef scraped away more meat from the bones. Every single piece of the fish would be used, including its bones, officials said.

As soon as different parts of the fish were packaged up, patrons lined up to grab them, and shrugged off the price tags. At nearly $55 a pound for prime cuts and $25 a pound for "chuck," they said it was worth it for the rare fish.

Sachiko Rotter of Buffalo Grove grabbed five pieces and clapped her hands in glee. She said she and her friends would be eating well that night.

"I came here 50 years ago from Japan," Rotter said, "and I've never seen this done before."