Jewel Bako Omakase

Photos by Tomo

Jewel Bako's sushi bar and its creative and well coordinated staff of chefs was once again in splendid form on Friday night! A glorious omakase, highlighted by a wide range of Japanese delicacies. The uni cocktail had multiple layers of uni, adorned with seaweed, and showing off the wonderful versatility of sea urchin.

Matsutake Mushrooms - The Wild Table Book Launch Party

Collage by Tomo
After receiving a gift of Matsutake mushrooms while attending the book launch party for "The Wild Table" by Connie Green, grateful master chefs prepared the above recipes.

The Masterful Mr. Yasuda

A visit to Sushi Yasuda is always a special meal, particularly if Mr. Yasuda artfully prepares the meal. Last nights sushi dinner started with an assortment of clam, squid and octopus sashimis, followed by an assortment of delicious sushi follow-ons. Mr. Yasuda also likes to serve his Japanese delicacies complemented with sake from his hometown, matching perfectly with the fish varieties.

Kajitsu's Mr. Nishihara - Two Michelin Stars

Photos by Tomo

Kajitsu's Mr. Nishihara recently lectured in New York City. His 2-star Michelin rated restaurant provides New Yorkers with a new culinary adventure as well as dazzling artistic and flavor possibilities (shown above).

Izakaya Ten Sake Bar - Unique Sake Tasting Map

Izakaya Ten is located on 10th Ave between 22nd and 23rd Street, with a huge Japanese mural providing a distinctive facing. The front bar has a wide selection of sakes, and a unique tasting map which rates each sake on a measure of dry/fruity/light/rich characteristics. Servings are by glass, carafe and bottle for most of the list, usually served with some fresh edamane. Assorted traditional street/pub foods also available, with a good downtown vibe and cutting-edge music selection.

ChickaLicious - 203 E 10th NYC

Photo by Tomo

After great Japanese food, nothing like a fun dessert. ChickaLicious fits the bill perfectly. The main dessert bar serves a three-course, fixed-price line-up of great Japanese infused dessert selections. If you also want "take-out" check out the sister store right across the street. Above is pictured the superb chololate eclair. Get there early for take-out, since they often sell-out at about 9:30pm.

Sik Gaek - Korean Octopus Sashimi Extraordinare

Photo by Tomo

Sik Gaek is located in Flushing, NY, only about a 20 minutes LIRR train ride from Penn Station in Manhatten. A quick walk from the Broadway trainstation and you are transported to Korea. You are taken to a BBQ table and start the meal off with a table side cooked fried egg, some fresh carrots adorned with a touch of hot sauce. The most extraordinary aspect of the meal a chance to eat live octopus sashimi. The specialty of Sik Gaek is there lobster/octopus hot pot. The first portion of the meal involves the fresh octopus sashimi, which arrives very much alive in small pieces. This tests your chop stick skills but is a tasty delicacy. A hot pot of live lobster and octopus, assorted crabs, snails, clams, scallops and noodles is then presented, and cooks while you watch. An amazing spectacle. Be careful to not observe too close to the cooking pan, since the lobster claws are still moving. The friendly staff at Sik Gaek is extremely helpful in explaining the dishes, as well as preparing the lobster, octopus and crab for eating. A highly unique, satisfying and fun meal.

Sushi Yasuda

Sushi Yasuda on E 43rd Street is an icon, bringing truly authentic sushi in a pure Japanese aesthetic to New York. The sushi is prepared with meticulous care, with instructions from all the highly capable chef. Rarely are you reaching for soy or wasabe, since each piece is typically prepared for immediate consumption

Above pictured examples of varations on clam, salmon, ikura, uni and eel.

The Joy of Sake (NYC Sept 23, 2010)

The Joy of Sake - Celebrating the World's Finest Sakes was held September 23, 2010 at 82 Mercer Street in Soho. The event featured 329 sake entrants spanning junmai, ginjo and daiginjo sakes. The sake featured above Nanbu Bijin "Daiginjo" was our favorite, recommended by a sake sommelier. Pale silver with a light to-medium body, the sake had a delicate texture on the palate with a taste hinting at peppery apple.


Other favorites included;
Kirinzan "Blue Bottle"
Taihenzan "Tenko"
Urakasumi "Yamadanishiki Junmai Daiginjo"


The event was complemented by some exceptionally good Japanese appetizers from NYC restaurants such as Sakagura, Zengo, Hibino, EN, Matsugen, Bond Street, 1 or 8 (Brooklyn), Woo Lae Oak and Sushi Samba. This was a first attendance for me of such a notable sake event, and I plan on attending again in 2011.

Kajitsu - Greenwich Village E 9th Street

Photo by Tomo

Capturing the spirit of Kyoto, Kajitsu emphasizes a vegetarian adaptation on Japanese cuisine. There are two fixed menus, both containing traditional "shojin" foods originating from the Japan's Buddist monesteries. Kajitsu's chef previously worked for "Kiccho Arashiyama Honten", considered to be one of the best ryotei in Japan. He is only 31 years old, and clearly establishing himself as an enfant terrible in the New York Japanese cuisine food scene.

Takashi - West Greenwich Village NYC

Photo by Tomo

Takashi is an incredible new Japanese BBQ restaurant in the West Village on Hudson Street. An exciting selections of beef variation set this as clearly divergent from traditional Korean BBQ, particularly the attention to superior beef (American Waygu) as well as many sourced from Dickson’s Farmstand Meats in the Chelsea Market and Pat LaFrieda’s in the meatpacking district. Dishes include those marinated in pepper or simple garlic, salt and sesame oils, while complemented also with individual tasting side sauces.

Excellent menu items are the beef sushi tri (above top: right: flash-boiled mino with grated diakon ponzu, middle: seared skirt steak with marinated Korean pepper, left: ribeye topped with yuzu pepper).

Pictured top-right is the Niku-uni (chuck flap topped with sea urchin and fresh wasabi)

Middle left is Yooke (thinly-sliced chuck eye tartare in special sauce)

Middle right is Akasen – fourth beef stomach  

Not pictured, but excellent – a collection of Kalbi (short rib), Harami (outside skirt) and Shibire (sweetbreads). Complementing this dinner was the Tongue Experience (Tan-Saki, Tan-Suji & Tan-Moto)

Hakkaisan sake was also part of the overall experience, finished with home made Madagascar Vanilla Soft Serve Ice Cream (lower left picture).

Reservations only taken for groups of 4, so if a party of 2, recommend to get there before 7pm. Truly unique Japanese culinary experience.

Soto - Greenwich Village NYC

Photo by Tomo

Soto was visited on Saturday September 11, 2010.  Soto entrance way on 6^th Avenue is relatively unmarked white door, leading into a white-walled room adorned with the Japanese rising sun motif directly facing the sushi counter. The restaurant only seats about 40 people, since Sotohiro Kosugi (pictured above) from Northern Japan appears to preside over the construction of each piece of sushi with the help of two assistants. We enjoyed the omakase presented in the photo collage above, and found the meal delicious, particularly accompanied by Dassai 50 sake. The downside was the long wait for sushi. Two suggestions to avoid wait time, would be to book after peak dinner rush times (after 9pm), and also order a host of kitchen appetizers. The wait time is long by New York standards, although worth it for the inventive, precise and artistic renderings of Japanese sushi classics.