Sushi Yasuda

If you want to learn 1) how to eat sushi and 2) what good sushi is: make your way to 204 East 43rd Street, New York City.  Look for this sign:

Arrange to sit at the sushi bar, either in front of Yasuda himself or any of his other sushi masters, and simply ask to be fed.

You might start with a simple bowl of homemade miso soup, and perhaps
some iced green tea.  You’ll notice that theres no "trademark" sushi
display-window running down the bar.  All the fish is kept in iceboxes, out of sight.
While this may seem at first like a bad thing, trust me, it isn’t.
Your sushi chef will ask you if theres anything you don’t like to eat.
Sea urchin?  Mackerel?  Eel?  Yes please.

You’ll start with sashimi.

Your chef will explain each fish (not only
what type, but where it was from, and why he chose that particular type
of yellowtail versus the four others they have), and in which order to
eat them.  He will explain the delicate
balance of flavors, and how to achieve them.  "Take a piece, like this,
put some wasabi on it, and roll it up. . . Now dip a tiny corner into
your un-wasabi’d soya, and place it in your mouth."  Want to read more?

Once you’ve devoured your sashimi, you will begin to recieve pieces of nigiri, one or two at a time.  Some will come dressed with soy — others with sea salt.  They will be one-bite sized, and the rice will blow you away.   Perfectly cooked, ethereally seasoned, and barely holding together – the nigiri at Sushi Yasuda is the best I have seen in the US.

If you love sushi, and you want to have an outstanding dining experience, do yourself a favor and go to Yasuda.  He wants to teach you the ways of the sushizenmaster.  I cannot reccomend this place any more highly.  Go!

Don't be shellfish...