Pictures are not allowed at Sushi Sho NY, so this is all I have from my last meal - a gift of futomaki. Nakazawa-san's sushi has continued to reach new heights at each phase of his career. The consistent focus is on using local ingredients where possible, educating diners on the history of sushi, and continually leveling up presentation. If the original Sushi Sho is a neighborhood sushiya that birthed an entire "school" of restaurants, the Waikiki iteration is the more upscale, corporate-sponsored version that proved the success of this philosophy needn't only be contained to Tokyo. The NYC version feels like oyakata's vision fully realized. A stunning, custom-designed space that seems to compress 1300 years of sushi history into a single meal.
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Making good sushi night after night for 30+ years is challenge enough. Doing it in 3 locations several thousand miles apart, with different audiences, supply chains and ingredients is something that can only be executed by a true master. This feels wholly different than how successful chefs roll out their top restaurant concepts to new locations in "hot markets" like Las Vegas, Hong Kong or Dubai. And it's a completely different approach to how other unnamed sushiya have strategized entry to the American market - sometimes capitalizing on a brand name and expensive hinoki counter without sending the master or really doing much at all to show any consideration at all for translating their philosophy on new terroir.
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Nakazawa-san chose NYC precisely because of the challenge inherent in the restaurant business here: the most demanding diners, the thinnest margins, the shortest staying power. Foreign diners may be naive, but that doesn't mean they are oblivious to emotional intent. There's a reason Sushi Sho has a multi-month waiting list - people can sense that drive, that desire to produce something special. The businessman who knows how to extract every dollar of margin from diners and deftly manage supply chains may produce food that is every bit as tasty (and expensive!) as the craftsman who is driven by a thirst for endless self-improvement. But it is only the latter that achieves lasting greatness.