Sushi Nakazawa

This place looks like something out of a luxury car commercial, with black leather swivel chairs, sake sommeliers in tailored dark suits and a soundtrack of classical strings. It is not unexpected to see $300+ chef’s selections at NYC’s best sushi restaurants but reservations at Nakazawa’s counter are $180 for about 20 palate-changing courses like fatty tuna, sea urchin and yellowtail. It’s $150 in the peaceful dining room, and perfect sake pairings are $90.

For his daily changing omakase, Nakazawa swiftly sets each of the 20 or so pieces on your plate in succession. The fewer the embellishments, the better, as with pike mackerel, featuring a gentle brininess that gives way to unctuous maritime fat as you chew, and wild yellowtail from Hokkaido, with fatty tails that tantalizingly overhang rice so tenderly packed, it would fall to pieces if you looked at it funny. At times, delicately flavored creatures like scallops or fluke are outstripped by pungent wasabi or yuzu. But the meal is like a wave, its gentle lulls rendering the crests all the more thrilling. One peak was a strip of hay-smoked skipjack, licked by the salty sea and haunted with smoke redolent of the finest ham. You need to try incredible omakase from Jiro Dreams of Sushi’s chef Daisuke Nakazawa.