YOSHINO • NEW YORK
Sushi restaurant · NoHo
342 Bowery, New York, NY 10012
Highlights
Intimate 10-seat counter, 20-course omakase, rare ingredients
Intimate 10-seat counter, 20-course omakase, rare ingredients
"A 10-seat, ultra-premium counter led by master chef Tadashi Yoshida and carved from a 300-year-old hinoki tree, offering a 20-course Edomae-rooted omakase (around $500) that has earned rare critical acclaim. The chef flies Japanese seafood from Tokyo and Kyushu up to three times a week and works with exclusive vendors to secure allocations unavailable elsewhere; signature elements include sabazushi torched over binchotan, occasional incorporations of French luxury ingredients like white asparagus and white truffles, and a beverage program featuring sakes exported specifically for service alongside Burgundy and Champagne. The approach is traditional but exacting, down to an annual custom rice blend the chef creates based on that year’s harvest." - Kat Odell
"Time slows down at Yoshino, a 10-seat omakase counter in Noho, as jazz meanders through the speakers and 20 or so bites are placed in front of you. It feels looser than some omakases. The chef—who left his successful Nagoya restaurant to open this one—cracks jokes, lovingly recounts the final journey of the perfect tuna he’s slicing, and talks about how the sansho leaves remind him of springtime in Japan. For a subtly creative omakase, where the sushi is top-tier, and even the combination of uni, caviar and hairy crab doesn’t feel too extra, this is an excellent choice." - bryan kim, kenny yang, will hartman
"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
"You may experience a giddy feeling as you ring the doorbell outside Yoshino, and it’s not just because you’re about to experience one of New York’s most expensive omakase meals, at a restaurant marked only by a small, very simple plaque. It’s the anticipation—building from the moment the host called to confirm your reservation a few hours earlier—of entering another world. The maître d’ lets a few people into the foyer at a time—tourists celebrating an anniversary, a small family marking a graduation, a couple of tech millionaires—and the door is swiftly shut and locked. A host tucks you into a comfortable hinoki seat, where you’ll spend the next two-and-a-half hours communing with some of the most delicious, beautifully prepared, and quietly thrilling seafood the city has to offer. Jazz meanders through the speakers, time seems suspended, and the giddy feeling only grows stronger. photo credit: Will Hartman photo credit: Will Hartman photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Sonal Shah Pause Unmute As guests place drink orders, sous chefs prepare the first appetizer. They're supervised by Tadashi Yoshida, a chef who moved to New York after closing his successful restaurant in Nagoya. He slices and displays the night’s three cuts of tuna like a prized work of art. Bottles of sake that cost about the same as a round-trip, first-class flight to Tokyo are opened, and poured into glassware that sparkles like the top of the Chrysler Building. And then, the first bite is served. photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Will Hartman Pause Unmute Hairy crab, uni and caviar—three ingredients that, piled on top of each other, could elsewhere feel too much—come together with a luxurious, subtle sweetness in a delicate etched-glass bowl, or sometimes in a white ceramic goblet, streaked with green. Most of the following appetizers contain a fatty element, like fried monkfish with sweet, syrupy sauce, ladled out of a bowl held by iron tongs. Or firefly squid, like Gushers full of sea flavor, served with plump and juicy pieces of white asparagus from France, and a citrusy, peppery sprig of sansho. photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Sonal Shah photo credit: Sonal Shah Pause Unmute After some sizzling, binchotan-related fanfare with pressed-mackerel sushi—just one of many elegant little flourishes along the way—the nigiri portion takes center stage. Starting with a few lighter pieces, like gizzard shad and tiger prawn, the meal crescendos with chiaigishi chutoro: tuna belly cut near the bloodline. It's a best-of-both-worlds piece: fatty, yet flavorful, and worth the price of admission by itself. Things wind down with a bowl of ice cream, and a souvenir: a napkin, designed by the chef every season, and hand-dyed in Japan. Hold it close. It’s the only thing that’ll keep you locked into that blissful state as the cars honking on Bowery greet you back into the real world. Food Rundown Omakase You only have one option at Yoshino. The omakase is $648: $500 for the meal, with service and tax included. You’ll get around 20 courses: including about seven appetizers, seven pieces of nigiri, a soup, a hand roll, tamago, and dessert. The beverage menu includes sakes and wine—with more accessible by-the-glass options, and rare bottles. Dishes change, often putting seasonal Japanese ingredients in conversation with international ones, but here are some of the things you might eat: Kinmedai Soup Poached golden-eye snapper is served in a smoky, bonito-forward dashi that could warm up the coldest night. Homey and comforting, it’s a deceptively humble dish—if not for the four perfect coins of shaved white truffle on top, we could forget, just for a second, where we were. photo credit: Will Hartman Grilled Hokkaido Scallop While these soy-marinated scallops are grilling over binchotan, the chef walks around showing off the slices of tuna that he’ll serve later and telling you how each various piece was fished. It’s impossible to pay attention, because of the smoking scallops permeating the space, sending us into a reverie of charcoal and gnarled driftwood. Once the scallop is cooked to a slight bite and served wrapped in a piece of nori, it isn’t quite as distracting—though the caramelized smoky, umami flavors are bold. photo credit: Will Hartman Kohada The first nigiri of the night, this piece of gizzard shad is a textural wonder, with taut skin, and delicate flesh. It’s also your introduction to Yoshino’s sushi rice, with individual grains seasoned and cooked to absolute perfection. photo credit: Will Hartman Chiaigishi Chutoro Pink on one side, and red on the other, this piece of tuna looks like a tequila sunrise. It’s split down the middle to blanket the rice, leaving a mohawk-like line of fish on top. This is the calling card of the chef, and one of the bites that makes Yoshino feel like an experience that you cannot have elsewhere. photo credit: Will Hartman Anago The sleeper hit of the nigiri, and the final course at our recent meal. With so many raw fish textures before it, this velvety piece of eel—neither cooked hard on the grill nor drowning in overly sweet sauce, feels unique. photo credit: Sonal Shah" - Will Hartman
"Tadashi Yoshida of Nagaoya’s impossible-to-book Sushi No Yoshino, shuttered that lauded counter to pursue an opportunity in New York. Now, at the Michelin-starred Yoshino, he’s serving a 20-course $500 omakase on the Bowery, which is especially important as this marks his debut as a sushi master (not a protégé) who relocated from Japan to open in the city. Drawing inspiration from both France and Japan, the omakase commences with a series of around six tsumami that call for Western and luxury ingredients like cream, olive oil, caviar, and white truffles, before moving into a traditional 10-bite Edomae nigiri serving. One of Yoshida’s signature bites is sabazushi (mackerel), which he torches with a handheld binchotan grill. Book reservations online." - Nadia Chaudhury
