left brain: Sushi at Masa in NYC Is a Zen Thing

Which Restaurants I Love

NYC
* Per Se * Pastis * Schillers Liquor Bar * Casa Mono * Babbo * Del Posto * WD50 * Tabla * Morimoto * Buddhakan * Gotham Grill * Vynl * The Spotted Pig * Bouchon Bakery * Tia Pol * Artisinal * Cubano Cafe * db Bistro Modern * Saul * Quality Meats * Jewel Bako * Bar Americaine * Isabella's * Bamboo 52 * Bouley Bakery * Public * Bouley * Boquiera * Blue Ribbon Sushi *

What I've Watched

At the Cinema:
Constant Gardener * Junebug * Green Street Hooligans * Capote * Hellbent * Jarhead * Harry Potter and the Goblet * The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe * Brokeback Mountain * Munich * Syriana * The New World * Spirit of the Beehive * Failure to Launch * Tsotsi * V for Vendetta * Thank You For Smoking * United 93 * The DaVinci Code * XMen III * Russian Dolls * Favela Rising * Nacho Libre * Superman * Devil Wears Prada ** Time to Leave * Little Miss Sunshine * Miami Vice * Quinceanera * Half Nelson * Another Gay Movie * Poster Boy * Le Petit Lieutenant * Man Push Cart * Science of Sleep * A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints * The Queen * Paprika * The Departed * Shortbus * Marie Antoinette * Pan Labyrinth * Babel * The Prestige * Death of a President * Borat * Fast Food Nation * Candy * Volver * Casino Royale * Deja Vu * Stranger than Fiction * Days of Glory * Apocalypto * Curse of the Golden Flower * Children of Men * Miss Potter * Tears of the Black Tiger * Notes on a Scandal * Reno 911 * Zodiac * Last King of Scotland * 300
From Netflix:
Oldboy * Alias * ChungKing Express * Requiem for a Dream * OC Season 2 * Coach Carter * Crash * Sex and Lucia * Lemony Snicket * It's All Gone Pete Tong * Love Actually * Fever Pitch * Interview with a Vampire * The Real Cancun *Lords of Dogtown * Fantastic Four * Criminal * Willy Wonka * Fridaa * Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance * About a Boy * Rebel without a Cause * The Edukators * 3 Dancing Slaves * Dot the I * Royal Tennenbaums * 2046 * March of the Penguins * Into the Blue * Oliver Twist * Beautiful Thing * Memoirs for a Geisha * The War Within * Spun * Young Gods * A Lot Like Love * Inked * Family Stone * Kontroll * Delicatessen * Footballer's Wives * Transamerica * Jesus is Magic * Firewall * King Kong * Hostel * Layer Cake * She's the Man * 5 x 2 * Lost, Season 1, 2 * Brick * Little Manhattan * The Comeback * Veronica Mars * Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World * Before the Fall * Summer Camp * Entourage, Season 1 * Everything is Illuminated * Madame Sata * Weeds * Sympathy for Mrs. Vengeance * Art School Confidential * City of Men, Season 1, 2 * L'Enfant * Stick It * Dorian Blues * Goal * Manhattan * Lower City * Strangers with Candy * Guys and Balls * Tristan & Isolde * Irreversible * CRAZY * I Stand Alone * Three Extremes * Red Dragon * Hard Candy * Running with Scissors * Boixe Maoi * Napolean Dynamite * The Covenant * FlyBoys * Ma Mere * Naked * Sin City * Hukkle *

I have one dining dream at this point. Nothing else even comes close. Supposedly MASA makes Nobu and Megu look like childs play. So, anyone up for taking me ?

It was at a table, in fact, that I dined with my toro-tipsy friend.

Three nights later he called and left a message. He said that he had almost gone to eat sushi for lunch but had decided that he needed a longer pause after experiencing what he called "the sushi of the gods, so it's not so painful when I have to go back to mortal living."

He had it just right. Masa is divine.

Link: The New York Times > Dining & Wine > Restaurants: Sushi at Masa Is a Zen Thing.

COULD reach deep into a heady broth of adjectives to describe the magic of the sushi at Masa. I could pull up every workable synonym for delicious. Or I could do this: tell you about watching a friend bite into one of Masa's toro-stuffed maki rolls.

His eyes grew instantly bigger as his lips twitched into a coyly restrained grin. Then the full taste of the toro, which is the buttery belly of a bluefin tuna, took visible hold. Forget restraint: he was suddenly smiling as widely as a person with a mouthful of food and a modicum of manners can. His eyes even rolled slightly backward.

The chef and owner, Masayoshi Takayama, who operated Ginza Sushiko in Beverly Hills before relocating to Manhattan, does not present you with a menu or choices. You are fed what he elects to feed you, most of it sushi, in the sequence and according to the rhythm he decrees. You do not seize control at Masa. You surrender it. You pay to be putty. And you pay dearly. The price fluctuates with the season and the availability of certain delicacies. It now stands at $350 a person before tax, tip and sip of sake or bottled water. Masa, which reopens Jan. 11 after a holiday break, is arguably the most expensive restaurant in New York. Lunch or dinner for two can easily exceed $1,000.

March 2008

Comments

I dined at Masa sushi Friday January 14, 2005 and must say it was the most expensive meal I have ever consumed but it was also the most beautiful one as well, my partner and I sat at the bar and were served by Masa himself and it was an experience that challenged my mind body and soul...

Posted by: andy | January 18, 2005 at 03:32 PM