I have been wanting to go to Nakazawa ever since it opened in 2013, and even more so after learning about the amazing story of its genesis.
I had seen the movie “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” in 2011 and learned about the story of Sushi chef Sukiyabashi Jiro and his exclusive Michelin-starred 10-seat counter restaurant in Tokyo (which is still on my must-go list!). Jiro has since lost is Michelin star for being too exclusive but he continues to make sushi at age 100!!!
Then I heard the story of how famous NY-based restaurateur Alessandro Borgognone reached out via Facebook to Jiro’s protege Daisuke Nakasawa and (via Google translate) communicated with him to discuss opening his restaurant in New York, which soon after got a 4-star review in the Times and ended up becoming one of the most exclusive and sought after reservations.
I first made a reservation in 2018 and for whatever reason had to cancel then. It took me long enough to visit but I finally made it back in 2023, 10 years after the opening.
Chef Nakazawa himself is only there some of the times and he was sadly not there the night I visited (I was told he was in LA where he is going to open another restaurant) but, as you might expect, the staff was just as polite, delightful, prepared and professional as he most certainly would have been, and in fact I found them to be less pretentious and rigid than staff can be in some other similar places.
The omakase (which is the only option) is $150 per person and you can have an additional course of wagyu beef ($32) or of uni ($50), or a champagne pairing ($75). Sake and tea are of course additional and come in a variety of price points as you might expect. The restaurant has no liquor license so there is no wine, beer or other alcoholic beverages.
The omakase dishes were as following (the caption are the fish names from right to left, which is the order in which they are recommended to be eaten):
Hay-Smoked Coho Salmon
Soy-Marinated King Salmon
Hotate
Bigfin Reef Squid
Botan Ebi
Snow Crab
Chicken Gruntfish
Fluke Fin
Sea Bream
Fluke
Golden-Eye Snapper
Red-Spotted Groupe
Skipjack
Soy-marinated Bluefin Tuna
Chutoro
Otoro
The soy-marinated bluefin tuna and the Otoro deserve special mention as the best part of the Omakase courses in my opinion.
Hokkaido Uni (shellfish replacement: Herring Roe)
I love uni (sea urchin) deeply and grew up eating it fresh and raw right out of the sea of Southern Italy so I had to splurge and get the extra portion. It did not disappoint in taste although I would have expected a bigger serving for $50.
Tamago
Although I would not describe this as one of the most amazing meals I’ve ever had in my life, it definitely ranks up there in the top 20 maybe and, as far as sushi restaurants go, is probably one of the best 5 or 10 I have tried in New York City.
