The Hump at Santa Monica Municipal Airport Serves...Yikes...Whale

If you're not familiar with the Hump, the sushi there is astounding. When people say it's "highly regarded," that's an understatement. Here's what restaurant critic Patric Kuh once wrote about the place:

When the chef spots two diners discomfited by the sight of shrimp whose antennae are still wriggling as their bodies are fitted onto warm rice, he laughs and puts up a bamboo rolling mat as a screen. He has the dash of the showman as he draws from tiny Tupperware containers for microgreens, dried garlic chips, and slivers of kelp to accentuate the marine perfection of the fish. In the nacreous translucence of raw shrimp and kanpachi he achieves a brittle intensity.

I was with Patric the night he saw those wriggling antennae, and in retrospect, I should have realized that cruelty to shrimp boded something evil. According to the New York Times, the Hump also serves WHALE! Endangered whale. Good Lord. The folks who made the Oscar-winning The Cove ran a sting operation, and now Santa Monica is dropping the righteous hammer on the joint.

Last week, several federal agents, including one from the Border Patrol and one who speaks Japanese, joined their team. Once again, the chef and wait staff more than once identified the meat as whale, the affidavit said, and it may have been obtained from a Mercedes parked behind the restaurant.

Armed with a search warrant, federal officials on Friday went searching for evidence from the restaurant, including marine mammal parts as well as various records and documents. The possession or sale of marine mammals is a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and can lead to a year in prison and a fine of $20,000.

The name of the restaurant supposedly refers to World War II slang for the Himalayas. Transport pilots had to make it over "The Hump" when flying missions from India to China. Well, now we know. It was secret slang for "Marine Mammal." Yuck-a-doo.