Nobu
our comments
This New York outpost of Nobuyuki Matsuhisa’s Los Angeles original has spawned hordes of imitators and inspired fierce devotion among diners. When Matsuhisa is seeing to his other restaurants, his chefs are equally capable of the stunning gastronomic pyrotechnics, doing justice to his trend-setting New Age Japanese cuisine with its South American and Californian overtones. The crowd is a blend of see-and-be-seen Downtowners and Uptown power-brokers arriving by limo, and you can only get a reservation if you call the public number well in advance or know the restaurant’s private number. But once you’re in, you can have a great (and very expensive) meal: course after course of thrilling creations announcing pure and clean flavors amid elaborate preparations. Nobu’s ingredients are of the finest class. Try new-style sashimi or the multicourse chef’s choice---omakase---menu (be sure to specify how much you want to spend or else be prepared to spend big). It may include such signature dishes as squid "pasta" (paper-thin shavings of squid) with a garlic sauce, sashimi salad and black cod with miso; rock shrimp or scallop with yuzu sauce; asparagus with egg sauce and salmon eggs; or fresh lobster with wasabi pepper sauce. Japanese beers and sakés blend in with a good selection of wines. Desserts speak to a transcultural East-West schizophrenia---some would be at home at the TriBeCa Grill down the block. Nobu has a casual urban feel while featuring flamboyant décor along a theme-park Japanese path: beechwood floors are stenciled with cherry blossoms; tall birch-tree columns rise to a high ceiling. The sushi bar stools have chopstickslike legs---modern while country and very rococo.- April 2005
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