NOBU
Please excuse the delay, Phil and I have been having a lot of fun... And, yes, he realizes he may be responsible for the redesign of my blog--soon to be strictly menus, minus men. Friday of that week (was it 2 weeks ago?) we went to a special restaurant opening, which I am not at liberty to blog about since it was exclusively for family and friends.

The following day I left for the Hamptons, and upon my return Phil and I went to Nobu. Nobu makes a big production out of sushi. And the cliche holds true, bigger isn't always better. It's the silver platter, see-and-be-seen sushi place. It's a cross between che che and touristy, between work appropriate and it's-too-early-to-go-out. A large expanse of tables, high ceilings and oversized Japanese objects make you feel small. It's not a cozy place.

Steer against the hype because, the fact is, there's better sushi in Manhattan. BUT if you order the right items, you can have a dining experience that rivals other sushi bars. We started with Fresh Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalepeño--excellent because the spiciness of jalepeño nicely complements the tanginess of the ponzu. We followed this up by a surprise--OFF the menu (gasp!) Foie Gras and Kobe Beef Dumplings, each neatly folded into an origami-like shape and charred along its flat side. Every night, Nobu makes only a small batch of these. Unlike other items, when you place your order for these dumplings, you must ask if there are any left.

We ordered the Japanese equivalent of "Pimientos de Padron"--blistered green peppers. With the occasional spicy one, the peppers were fresh, crunchy, and expertly prepared.

We ordered a cold, dry sake. And several pieces of sashimi--maguro toro and hamachi toro. The maguro toro was sashimi-grade tuna. The hamachi toro begged to be cooked. It was unsatisfactory yellowtail by any sushi standards, particularly of the Nobu I've known. We ordered more maguro.

One item everyone gets at Nobu until he/she is totally bored of it--because it is as good as your favorite song on replay--the Chilean Sea Bass with Black Bean Sauce. The sea bass is a flaky, white fish with high oil content. And the sauce it sits in is similar to a plum sauce mixed with soy--sweet and salty. It's a noble choice for those who don't like sushi...and even those of us who do.

For dessert we ordered (my favorite) a variety of flavored mochi ice cream. Mochi is a gelatin that when wrapped around ice cream creates a bon-bon-like dessert.

Great meal, low on "wow" factor...But typical of what you'd expect from a conglomerate restaurant enterprise. People should stop being impressed by Nobu, and direct their attention to smaller, more quality-conscious sushi bars around town.

On our way out, we passed a large table. One person from that table looked up at Phil and I passing. That person: Jennifer Aniston. I hadn't noticed she was there until we made eye contact. Why did she look up at us? I asked Phil. His answer, "We used to date." Interesting...I processed that for a moment, until he revealed his humor. Nevertheless, she did take notice of us, which made me think we must have looked nice as a couple.


I will end this post with an addendum: My previous experience at Nobu--was better. Perhaps this is what irks me most about Nobu, its inconsistency. The previous time I was with my friends and Marco, another Monaco native I was talking to before I met Phil.

Marco is very cultured, a business man who loved spending every free moment with me. He took us all to Nobu. My friends ordered a variety of cooked dishes, including the Filet of Salmon in Teriyaki Sauce, Lobster Salad with Spicy Lemon Dressing. They ordered salmon sushi. I focused on sashimi, and was not disappointed. 12 pieces otoro, and 12 pieces hamachi toro (in 2-plate increments).

We ordered several desserts to try, including the Bento Box (warm valrhona chocolate souffle cake, shiso syrup, white chocolate sauce and green tea ice cream), the House-Made Sorbet, Assorted Mochi, Banana Soy Toban (shoyu caramelized bananas, roasted pecans and malaga ice cream), and Zen (green tea mousse, almond sponge, chocolate praline crunch, green tea cremoso and adzuki bean).