This is a profile of Masa Takayama, who runs Ginza Sushiko in Beverly Hills and the new Masa restaurant in the Time Warner Center in New York City.
When I was a kid in New York, there were only a handful of Japanese restaurants. Japanese food was not cool, yet. Restaurants that I remember going to as a child that are still around? Tatany on 27th and 3rd. Most are newcomers.
While I have not eaten at either of Takayama's restaurants, I know for sure, in my heart, that whatever he does there at Masa, there is equally amazing sushi here in Tokyo for a much more reasonable price. Sure you dont have to fly to Tokyo for it, and I don't begrudge the man for making a living, but there are many incredible sushi chefs in the world, and the majority of them are in Japan. In Tokyo and Osaka and Kobe and Kyoto.
I'm sure his sushi is incredible. Is it $500/person incredible? That is up to you and your accountant.
Food From a Perfectionist Does Not Come Cheap, or Easy [nytimes.com]
Um...that sounds like a lot for little piles of uncooked fish, rice and seaweed. As far as I can tell, the only difference between different sushis, and I'm only an uneducated Gai-Jin here, so take this with a splash of soy sauce (the Japanese salt!), is the quality of the ingredients. Cutting the fish more elegantly does not, in fact, change it's flavor, texture or basic properties in any way.
The final outrage is that, like all sushi restaurants, the portions are small. It would cost me $1,000 to eat there.
The best sushi that I have ever eaten was at the fish market in Tokyo. My wife and I woke up at 7am and waited in line over an hour, but it was worth the wait. Plus, it was less than a fifth of the price of Masa.
In the interests of full disclosure, I am an investor in Takayama-san's restaurant. Leaving aside the price, the sushi is exceptional. Everything is a matter of taste, but I think the selection of the best fish (a matter of experience and clout), the way it is cut (generally 10 years plus of experience is considered good), the rice (very difficult to get right in the US -- the best Japanese sushi bars replace their rice every half an hour or so), and the speed/technique (you don't want sushi that's been hand-warmed!) all add to the taste and experience. This could be another Japanese urban legend, but I have been told that the way the fish is cut (against the grain, on the grain, etc.) and the sharpness/swiftness of the knife and therefore the number of cells it slices (no kidding) does affect taste.
So, where is Masa's? In my opinion, the best by far in the US. Is it worth 1.5-2X the next best place? (Prices at Masa's are probably, at this point, at the very, very top end even in Japan.)
That's a matter of opinion.
Yuu guys don't get it. It isn't JUST sushi it is a total experience of someone tappering to your likes dislikes and using the BEST seafood in the sates/world. On top of that he doesn't do only sushi, he does plent of regular combinations of Non-raw preperations.
Once you have had fresh sea urchin( i mean within hours of harvest) and the highest quality HAmachi, BUri and SAba, come to the gates and make an educated comment. His combinations( sea urchin Sushi rice rissotto with white truffle) are incredible, original and luxurious. The product alone is probably 45% of the cost, not to mention the stemware, china, labor, rent and fixed costs.
THis guy is incredible and worth every penny if you have it or have to beg, steal, and cheat for it! Fortunately there is enough people in NY who get that idea, and even if they don't, his LA clients will fly in happily.
For most of you who are bickering over the price of what Masa's has to offer, you're not getting the true essence of what this Master has to offer. The man has all of his fish flown in from japan, has had more than 10+ years of experience and makes food his art. yea, if you're not going to see the artist side of food, then you're probably thinking that $500 for dinner, eating raw fish, is a total waste, and it would be. But for those of us who want to experience something new, and yet kept very taditional, and something incrediably out of this world, try it. Go in with an open mind, don't think about the cost, and let this Master take you through the gates of bliss through his art in food. Sink into the atmosphere, and savor every bite because in the end, you will appreiciate his skill/talent, and passion for food.
If this masa is the same as the one who used to be the head sushi chef at Daruma in Great Neck, NY before going to LA, then by all means, it will be worth every penny to enjoy food prepared especially for yoou by him
Susan
common everybody! even if takayama is flying in everything on a spaceshuttle, it doesn't justify these prices! But it works, couse its NYC!! and that's okay, people are up for that, they don't care if it costs 5, 50 or 500 dollars... but the publicity that masa got because of there unbelivble pricey omakase ist just... yeah, priceless!!