Noz17

Year-old Noz 17, which just earned a Michelin star, is the city’s first referral-only sushi counter, a style of dining popular in Japan where chefs offer seats only to regulars and their friends. And while most of its seven bar seats run on this system, the team opens a few slots that are bookable via Tock (and as of recent, Noz17 offers a private dining room with another bar clad with room for four guests). This downtown offshoot of uptown’s lauded Sushi Noz is helmed by Sushi Noz Ash Room alum, head chef Junichi Matsuzaki who was, in fact, part of the original sushi den’s opening team. Here, go for a 30-course, seasonal omakase ($435) that follows atypical progression: chef intersperses otsumami and nigiri throughout most of the menu. Further, dishes here highlight extended fermentation practices, bites high in salt that pair with sake, and chinmi: rare delicacies uncommon elsewhere in New York City, like a three-month-aged uni bite. This is a spot for sushi enthusiasts that are looking for new, sometimes intense, flavors. Just like the uptown location, the team flies most fish directly in from Tokyo’s Toyosu Market twice a week.
Cost: $435