"The two-and-a-half-hour omakase at Yoshino in Noho will cost you a whopping $648 (tax/tip included) to get in the door, which means you’ll sit next to people celebrating something and tech millionaires. But Yoshino feels looser and more creative than some other sushiyas around the same price—thanks in part to the chefs cracking jokes and swishing fancy wine with guests—and every bite is pretty much perfect. You'll get around seven substantial appetizer courses, like the smokiest, most satisfying goldeneye snapper dashi soup. And then, the nigiri starts. As the chef explains how each individual swimmer was fished, and where it ranked at the Tokyo fish market that morning, wafts of scallop smoke make it hard to pay attention. Not to mention the completely distracting chiagishi chutoro, a semi-fatty, very flavorful piece of tuna belly cut near the bloodline." - bryan kim, neha talreja, hannah albertine, will hartman, sonal shah