Latest news with #SushiNoz
New York Post
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
Why top NYC restaurants are bringing in famed chefs from around the world
Top New York City restaurants are increasingly turning to collaborations with renowned chefs from around the globe to boost business and stand out from high-end rivals, Side Dish has learned. The collabs, while not a new phenomenon, have taken on added importance as President Trump's tariffs create challenges for chefs to source some of their favorite ingredients. However, importing talent from all corners of the globe – which at popular Tribeca haunt l'abeille means bringing in chefs from England, France, Belgium, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand – remains tax-free. 7 l'abeille in Tribeca is importing talent from all corners of the globe. Eric Vitale Photography 'Global residences help everyone grow and learn — from the guests to the staff. They keep the restaurant interesting,' said Howard Chang, co-owner of Kuma Hospitality Group's l'abeille with partners Rahul Saito and executive chef Mitsunobu Nagae. The dinners these top chefs serve up at ticketed events aren't cheap. At a recent, prix-fixe collab dinner at l'abeille, Nagae worked with London-based chef Chet Sharma, who studied physics at Oxford and now helms the standout Indian-themed restaurant BiBi in London's swanky Mayfair neighborhood. The meal cost $325, with an additional $295 for wine pairings. The exclusive events, however, often don't bring in more money than regular a la carte dinners, restaurateurs told Side Dish. That's because the higher prices are offset by the cost of flying in the foreign-based chefs, along with some of their team members, and putting them all up in hotels. 7 Chet Sharma, left, and Mitsunobu Nagae collaborated on a prix-fixe dinner. Eric Vitale Photography 7 The collabs, while not a new phenomenon, have taken on added importance as President Trump's tariffs create challenges for chefs to source some of their favorite ingredients. Eric Vitale Photography The upside, they say, is that global collabs raise the restaurants' profiles, bring in new diners and offer educational benefits for staff. On the Upper East Side, Sushi Noz's executive chef Nozomu Abe is bringing in Michelin-starred Chef Endo Kazutoshi, a third-generation sushi master who trained in Japan before opening his namesake restaurant, Endo, at the Rotunda in London. 7 At Sushi Noz on the Upper East Side, executive chef Nozomu Abe, left, is bringing in Michelin-starred Chef Endo Kazutoshi. Hannah Wyatt Last week, the pair offered a rare collaborative omakase where they presented their culinary visions through the use of local fish and other influences. 'We started the Japan series in 2019,' said Hannah Wyatt, Sushi Noz's operations manager. 'Our goal was to showcase top chefs from Japan through collaborative dinners with chef Noz, with a focus on sushi and kaiseki chefs at the top of their respective fields.' In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the owners of Layla's began bringing in chefs during COVID and continue to have pop-ups for 'brand exposure.' 7 The dinners these top chefs serve up at ticketed events aren't cheap. Eric Vitale Photography 7 The exclusive events, however, often don't bring in more money than regular a la carte dinners, restaurateurs told Side Dish. Eric Vitale Photography The most recent international collab involved chef Kyle Garry and chef Whyte Rushen of Whyte's in London, who is now on a 'worldwide' tour. 'We did it once, and it was really successful and fun and now it's something we try to do as often as we can,' Samuel Lynch, one of Layla's co-owners along with Stefano D'Orsogna and David Lacey, told Side Dish. The trend has even extended to the Hamptons, where Mavericks Montauk will welcome the crew from Michelin-starred Parisian restaurant Contraste on July 31. 7 The upside, they say, is that global collabs raise the restaurants' profiles, bring in new diners and offer educational benefits for staff. Interior of l'abeille, above. Eric Vitale Photography The collaboration was made possible by the deep-rooted friendship between Mavericks' pastry chef Remy Ertaud and Contraste's Louis De Vicari. We hear … that celeb chef Scott Conant is opening a posh new Italian restaurant, Leola, in the Bahamas at Baha Mar this fall. Leola will be on the casino level of Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, joining hotspots including Jon Batiste's Jazz Club, Marcus Samuelsson's Marcus at Baha Mar Fish + Chop House, Daniel Boulud's Cafe Boulud, and Dario Cecchini's Carna. The 8,800 square foot space comes with 106 seats in the main dining room and 130 seats outside. 'Bringing Leola to life at Baha Mar is something I've dreamed about for a long time,' Conant said. 'I've always been inspired by the beauty and spirit of the Bahamas, and it felt like the perfect place to create a restaurant that's both personal and inviting. With Leola, we're blending the kind of food and hospitality I love—warm, soulful, and rooted in connection.' Conant will also participate in the Fourth Annual Bahamas Culinary & Arts Festival, which runs from Oct. 22-26.
Forbes
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
For An Intimate Taste Of Peruvian-Japanese Cuisine, Kansha On New York's Upper East Side Is A Personal Statement Of The Chef
The cooking at Kansha shows the modern breadth of Peruvian-Japanese cuisine. Even in Lima, where exciting Japanese-Peruvian restaurants abound, Kansha ('gratitude') would be a contender. Here on New York's upper east side it is a stand-out via Chef-Owner Jorge Dionicio, who has worked at Morimoto, O Ya, Akashi, Hirohisa, Azabu, and, most recently, Sushi Noz. The Peruvian connection with Japanese food began back in the 1980s after Nobu Matsuhisa moved from his home in Saiatama to Lima, where he developed his style of incorporating Pervian ingredients, not least chile peppers, with Japanese. After moving to open his namesake place in Beverly Hills, that style became popular with Americans used to fusion cooking. Horge Dionicio is a Peruvian chef who earned a black belt in sushi making in Japan. Dionicio is himself Peruvian and emigrated to the U.S. in 2002, starting his culinary career at UCHI in Austin, Texas, then travelled to Japan to perfect his sushi craft at the World Sushi Skills Institute, receiving a Kuro Obi (black belt) certification there. He then did a stage at the renowned Cala and Maido in Lima. At Kansha Dionicio uses all imported seafood from Tokyo's Tokyo's Market along with Peruvian ingredients such as white choclo corn, quinoa and aji amarillo peppers. The one-page menu is categorized by Cold Tasting, Nigiri, Maki, Starters, Hot Tasting and has only 16 seats downstairs and a six-seat omegas counter upstairs. Kansha is a small storefront space, brightly lit, minimally decorated and for its size (16 seats) not particularly loud. Upstairs is an six-seat omekase counter made from a 100-year-old Hinoki tree (the price of the meal is $145 here). Downstairs our party of four just left ourselves in Dionicio's hands, asking for selections from each of the menu sections, though I just had to order pop-in-the-mouth rock shrimp to dip into garlicky tocoto aïoli with takuan Japanese pickle. Within the Cold Tasting category we enjoyed a ceviche with leche de tigre, cilantro and those fat Peruvian choclo corn kernels. Tiradito sashimi with Peruvian fruits and vegetables has become a classic. Tiradito has become something of a classic within Peruvian-Japanese food, a sashimi (we had blue fin tuna) with an aji amarillo and chalaca sauce of citrus, onions, tomato and chilies. Sleek hamachi yellowtail came with Serrano peppers and wonderful crispy potatoes, while lustrous king salmon was dressed with ponzu and a wasabi salsa that was delightfully mild so as to not clash with the delicacy of the fish. Our Hot Tasting item was a taco of very tender grilled octopus, with aji, puka, and waka Thai. All fish is imported from Tokyos' seafood market at Kansha The came an array of lovely sushi, each species distinctive from each other, velvety, supple and served at the right temperature. The sake maki of salmon came with a lightly sweet caramelized dashi wasabi salsa; bluefin tuna maki was married to with small kyuri Japanese cucumber and shiso; shiro maki of madai fish was sided with avocado, olive oil and lemon zest. Picarones are Peruvian donuts made with sweet potatoes We ended our meal with a trio of ice creams that included an interesting sample of matcha, black sesame and lucuma sugar. Picarones, Peruvian donuts, made with Japanese Okinawan sweet potatoes and Kabocha. There is a tiny cocktail bar and the wine list, though small, works with this kind of food. So much at Kansha is new but nothing is overwrought. Every ingredient compliments each other, with the seafood as the underlying inspiration. So, if you can't put up with the huge and cacophonous Nobus in New York (or elsewhere around nthe world), Kansha is both a relief and s starting point for learning about this enticing 1312 Madison Avenue at 93rd Street 646-833-7033 Open nightly .
Vancouver Sun
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Sushi and street-style vibes: Two chefs with total of four Michelin stars team up in Toronto
At $125 a pop, tickets for Masaki Saito's Toronto collaboration dinner with Nozomu Abe of New York City's Sushi Noz sold out in less than 30 minutes . The appeal isn't a surprise. Saito and Abe, who are from the same small coastal Hokkaido town, have four Michelin stars between them. And then there's the relative affordability. An omakase dinner at Sushi Masaki Saito , Canada's only restaurant to hold two Michelin stars , costs $780. On July 4 and 5 at MSSM Ossington , 144 guests saw the celebrity chefs in action. And, in a patriotic twist, in contrast to their Michelin-starred establishments, which use almost exclusively imported Japanese ingredients, Canadian products loomed large. Saito estimates that 95 per cent of the ingredients at Sushi Masaki Saito are Japanese; Abe uses 99 per cent imported products at Sushi Noz. At MSSM, where Saito's students execute his Edomae-style omakase menu for $98 per person, they typically use 50/50 imported and local ingredients. Saito and Abe tipped the Canadian balance even further for their collaboration dinner, saying that only seasonings such as soy sauce and vinegar were from Japan. Discover the best of B.C.'s recipes, restaurants and wine. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of West Coast Table will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The 11 courses included silky B.C. spot prawns cured in kelp and delicate hay-smoked oysters dusted with dill, Nova Scotia lobster with Ontario eggplant and a refreshing vinegar jelly, and a five-ingredient chilled Ontario corn purée. 'I never touch local American ingredients. When I touched the Canadian local ingredients, it was so good,' says Abe. While a hinoki wood counter cut from a 200-year-old tree and traditional Japanese woodwork define the room at Sushi Masaki Saito, MSSM Ossington is another story. The restaurant is covered in vibrant graffiti by Vancouver-based artist Chairman Ting . At the collaboration dinner I attended on July 5 (the first of three sittings), a DJ spun 1990s and early 2000s hip-hop as guests clinked beers over the two 12-seat sushi bars with Saito and Abe: 'Kampai!' Saito had long envisioned this fun atmosphere, he tells me. 'Five seats, four seats in the club, was my high school dream.' With MSSM's high ceilings, colourful graffiti stylings and pulsing music, he realized it. 'A street-style club inside a sushi restaurant is special,' says Saito. Abe agrees. The Michelin Guide described his namesake New York sushi restaurant as a 'sacred space, where every detail recreates an intimate Japanese refuge.' The atmosphere of the collaboration dinner was a marked change. 'My restaurant has no music, and it's very quiet. People focus on the food. Everyone is quiet,' says Abe. 'But this restaurant has big vibes.' Whether his three MSSM locations (including one in Edmonton ) or newest Toronto spot, Ramen Tabetai (where they make just enough rich, pork broth for 100 Jiro-style bowls per day, selling for $22.88), Saito highlights that his primary motivation for opening restaurants isn't monetary. 'Money is (further) down. First and second priorities are: I want to eat; I want to go. It's a very simple reason.' The restaurants Saito craved didn't exist, he adds, 'So, I made them myself.' Since Saito moved to Toronto in 2019, after running the counter at the two-star Sushi Ginza Onodera on Fifth Avenue in New York City, he says the culinary scene has changed 'little by little.' New York's evolution may be faster, but he thinks its growth has almost reached the ceiling. 'Canada has more space,' says Saito. 'Canada has potential.' His vision for Japanese cuisine in Canada doesn't include any more sushi spots. 'We did that already,' he adds. 'I want to open a tempura and a yakitori. More Japanese cuisine techniques.' Saito says many Japanese restaurants operate at the mid-level in Canada. Unlike New York, which has the likes of the Michelin-starred Tempura Matsui and Torien , specializing in binchotan-cooked skewers, the high-end is lacking. 'If we open, I want to open (a Michelin-level restaurant). No competition. Blue ocean.' He already has his sights set on Western Canada (Calgary and Vancouver specifically), but any future projects would open in Toronto first, with an increased focus on Canadian products. Sushi Masaki Saito aside, which he sees continuing to use predominantly Japanese ingredients, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and trade war, Saito is pushing more local products at his other restaurants. 'They should use Canadian products more and more. And then more Canadian pride, like this,' he says, tapping his Sushi Masaki Saito chef's jacket with the Japanese and Canadian flags side by side. Saito notes that he didn't put an American flag on his chef's whites when he worked in New York City. (However, if it ever came down to Canada versus Japan, his allegiance lies with Japan, 'of course.') He points out that many people go to Japan to learn how to brand and care for food products so they fit into the premium category. (Witness the $120 melon or $325 strawberry .) 'Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, they know branding. So Canadian products — pork, chicken, everything — more high-brand, Canadian pride, please.' Saito says it isn't necessarily a question of one nation's products being better than another's. Factors such as the weather, temperature, humidity, the environment and nature all impact the quality. The Canadian products he considers the most promising include oysters, lobsters, spot prawns and sea urchins, which people already consider luxuries. He uses sea urchin companies as an example, which he thinks have the potential to build a brand that captures high-end chefs' attention at home and abroad. 'Then, in 50 years, after we die, maybe the Canadian sea urchin (will be) very famous in the world. They should do it because the Canadian sea urchin is good. Canadian lobster is good. The Canadian oyster is good. Very good, good, good.' Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our cookbook and recipe newsletter, Cook This, here .
