Justin Devillier

           I have been wanting to eat at Morimoto pretty much for ever.  Thursday evening we had dinner reservations. Coincidentally, the week prior to our trip Jamison (who is the Chef de cuisine at the  massive Chelsea foodie heaven) stopped by La petite grocery for a bite to eat. I had a chance to make it out to the dining room to have a nice chat and we talked a little about New Orleans, restaurants, New York and the upcoming trip. So, I was definitely excited about eating at Morimoto. 

           We showed up a little late after what was the worst cab experience I had the whole time in NY (I’ll save that for another post.) One of Joel’s good friends joined us last minute making our party six people so we had to wait a minute while they prepared our table. No Problem. We love cocktails! Down stairs was a totally modern lounge complete with techno music and club lighting and some very delicious libations. I had the orange blossom. it was light and very refreshing. I also finished Mia’s first drink because she opted to try something else. I think it was sort of like a ginger margarita. I thought it was great.  

           They gave us a nice big table in the front room and we got the party started. Our group consisted of Mia, Brian, Dan, Joel, Melissa and myself. We decided to order a bunch of items and eat “family style”. Mia took a look at the wine list but we concluded that it would be only fitting to drink nice sake with such a japanese driven meal. In this case it was unfiltered, with almost a creamy texture and flavors of apricot, peach and lychee…..mmmmm               Our first round of food was freakin’ unreal and foreshadowed what was in store for the rest of the evening. Oysters paired with uni and foie gras, hamachi lightly cured in a pastrami spice, waygu beef tartare and fugu all came out looking stellar. I think we were all most intrigued by the fugu, which is a japanese pufferfish known for making you feel slightly high due to the residual toxins found in its flesh after its poison is removed. Although we didn’t have any Timothy Leary like side effects it was still very interesting especially with the tempura fried heads served along side. Other notables were the grilled Alaskan king crab, seared scallops and my favorite hot dish of the night miso glazed black cod with sweet beans. What they called sweet beans were these large beans (about the size of an olive) that were black in color and had a very smooth creamy paste in the center and a nice sweetness. I had never seen them before that night and would hate to live the rest of my life with out them. They’re that good.

                        Next course was sushi. We ordered the 55 piece chefs choice. My favorites were the baby carp, hamachi and the chu toro. Its hard to pick favorites when everything is spot on and fresh all the way down the the fresh grated wasabi and house pickled ginger. The only one I did not try was the salmon which Mia said rocked. The man himself chef  Masaharu Morimoto made it by the table to say hi and take a quick photo. Say sushi!! 

                        Desserts did not let down at all. The guava sorbet was so good Joel ordered a second serving for the table to share. The panna cotta was interesting with basil ice cream and mango noodles. I could tell most of their ice cream was made in the paco-jet because the textures were unreal. A nice tray of petit fours finished up one of the best meals ever.

                        After dinner Jamison was kind to offer us a tour of the kitchen which was amazing. They have a freezer down stairs that stay’s at -74 degree’s. It is the same kind of freezer that hospitals use to freeze blood because it freezes so quick and intense that no ice crystals form in the item being frozen. Therefore making it perfect for sushi. The one we saw was filled with toro straight from Japan. After the meal there was no partying. Time to go to sleep and get rested for the 15 hours of cooking the next day.