Something you may wish to consider if you'd like a very different dining experience is to dine at a different time of year. Your menu looks considerably different than one I had this past spring, and Katsu focuses on what's in season, and that goes for fish too. By the way, my experience this past spring (in May) was fantastic.

Is it possible? Of course. And that may well be the answer. But frankly, my conversation with Haruko dwelt very little on the prior dinner. I mentioned that we had been there before (multiple times) and the call was made primarily to (re-)acquaint her with LDC's food issues. She tried to find the menu from our last kaiseki and couldn't and then called me back to ask for it. In retrospect, perhaps I should have emphasized that our meal then was terrific and we were looking forward to seeing what Katsu could do THIS time--but at the time we spoke, I had the distinct impression that she wanted to know what we had had before so that they could in fact avoid duplication. I'll take more care next time, but even leaving out the repeat courses criticism, I stand by the other comments and our impression of the meal as whole.

BR: you're absolutely right of course. And in fact we discussed the very subject at the table last night. But one is stuck with one's wedding anniversary which, for better or worse, falls at the same time each year

Gypsy Boy wrote:the call was made primarily to (re-)acquaint her with LDC's food issues

And that, I'd bet, is where the misunderstanding occurred.

We received our 'training' from Kuni when he worked at Hatsuhana and from numerous evenings at Happi Sushi when they were located in Arlington Heights. The Arlington Hieghts location was notable because on a Saturday evening at that time, the clientel was mostly Japanese businessman, sushi not being the rage it became.
Nowhere was the expectation that dishes/courses would be different each time one dined. Companionship, conversation, inhanced by alcohol consumption was part of the equation. The obvious factor was, what was the freshest and best. There was some intricate preparation that even today I do not see repated such as 'Tiger Eye', uncooked squid rolled around salmon sashimi to form a roll and then sliced, no heating to cause the squid to contract.
Contact between the chef and diners at the bar was paramount for the experience.
I don't think one can compare dining at a classical Sushi Bar to the experience pioneered by Charlie Trotter and carried on today by many many chefs of intricate preparations of esoteric ingredients.
Indeed we still go Kuni's in Evansten and once in awhile to Katsu but never to celebtrity chef's.-Dick