jkaw

maybe, but i can still think of no other place selling regular slices made with commodity ingredients (the owners have admitted they are not importing cheeses like Dom at difara) for $3.50. if they are just eking out a tiny margin at $3.50 a slice, that must mean every pizza place in new york is far, far underwater. the cost of slices went from $2 (first few weeks) to $2.50 (first month) to $2.75/$3 (post-nymag/other reviews) to now $3.50. obviously some other calculus went on there that had nothing to do with costs and everything with milking customers. pizza that doesn't suck in the EV? the place is around the corner from vinny vincenz and luzzo's! and you get a FREE pizza with a beer at crocodile lounge across the street. give me a break. i can also think of one other place with nearly identical (actually, probably better) regular slices in the WV that is cheaper (though it has a famous pedigree) and almost never has lines. let's be fair: artichoke always had lines/waits. since gaining notoriety, the place has adopted an attitude, style of service and pricing scheme that strictly takes advantage of customers, rather than accomodating them. that is what i take offense to.

artichoke is the ultimate sellout. Whatever originally made this place unique and likeable has almost completely vanished. GONE: the friendly feel of a neighborhood place. no longer will you get friendly banter and the chance to munch on fresh bread, artichoke fritters or macaroni and beans while waiting late at night. instead, expect to wait in line and be largely ignored while you see fresh pies coming out of the oven and sitting on the counter. the reason these snacks aren't there isn't because the staff is too busy (often you will see two of the three staffers standing around doing nothing), but simply because the place has adopted some sort of superior attitude. GONE: any semblance of service. i'm sorry, but this place has been open almost three months now and my conclusion is that the people that run/staff it are either profoundly stupid (they have no grasp of serving pizza even semi-efficiently) or they are very cleverly gaming the system to create a long wait (more than 10 minutes -- much less 20 or 40 minutes -- for a slice of pizza is something i have never heard of, anywhere) and create buzz -- something like a pizza version of the shake shack. such a calculated move reeks of dishonestly and disrespect for the neighborhood and patrons in general. if somebody wants to debate this point, i can offer up numerous examples of this behavior that have nothing to do with "lots of orders for pies" or "no cash registers". GONE: a unique regular pie. whereas in the first few months regular pies had four cheeses (two types of mozz, pecorino, parmesan) and a healthy dose of olive oil and basil a la di fara, now they just appear to be covered in basil leaves. that leaves two unique things: a thick and crispy crust and the artichoke slice. neither are worth the line -- i can make a comparable artichoke dip and cook it in my oven on some crispy bread. GONE: any sort of value. the place recently raised its prices to $3.50 for a regular slice and $4 for either specialty slice. YES, i understand that costs for pizzerias were increasing exponentially a few months ago (though they have moderated since then), but $3.50 for a regular-sized slice is far more expensive than anything i have heard of anywhere else in new york. such aggressive price gouging is someting akin to a restaurant getting a good review and then DOUBLING their prices, which is egregious, unecessary, and offensive. the pies are also about 2/3 the size they were during the first month, meaning smaller slices. sorry for the rant, but somebody needs to call BS on these guys. the place has used every piece of neighborhood goodwill, buzz, and positive news coverage to take advantage of its customers, and that is exactly the sort of restaurant i despise. i hope they either get their act together or people start coming to their senses and stop going. supporting businesses like this only means more "buzz" restaurants with wildly overpriced, sometimes good food with incredibly long lines (and fewer genuine neighborhood places). new york needs less of that, not more of it.

went last night and had a great meal (15 pc omakase, plus some other favorites). the fish and sequence was pretty much as i remember (ikura, awabi, uni and anago at the end, followed by torched wagyu). a few notes: 1) rice was noticeably good. i didn't remember the rice being too remarkable in the past. 2) slices of fish were larger. not sure if this in an new adjustment for them to try and be more like the nontraditional nyc sushiya with mammoth pieces, but i hope not. i prefer well-proportioned nigiri. 3) as mentioned above, the 15pc omakase (but not the 10pc, as i noticed from somebody sitting next to me who got his meal on trays) is now served piece-by-piece, which greatly heightens the experience. this might have been because the bar was half empty when i ate (around 7:30), as i imagine it might be hard for the three chefs to serve a full bar of people as well as make sushi for the rest of the tables piece-by-piece. 4) the chef i sat with (not hideo-san, but the guy with the shaved head who is next to him) mentioned that they are looking to hire a fourth chef and to expand their sushi menu. he showed me a pot in which duck was marinating in soy, mirin and sugar and said that they would be making sushi (??) from it in a few days (i asked if they were adding more cooked food to the menu and he said "no, this is a sushi restaurant"). 5) the new blond wood decor is nice (looks like they took a few cues from yasuda, especially with the bar and the lighting) but i do really miss the character and charm of the old place. screw the doh. 6) the fish tank is gone! that means no more broiled miso lobster (the best cooked dish on the old menu) and live lobster tail sushi. damn! 7) the omakase included some osechi snacks, which was a pleasant addition. all in all though, i am very happy they are back, as their sushi is far and away the best value in nyc and the chefs are really great guys.

anybody know if he is offering an omakase yet? has anybody tried it?

Off topic, but:I've had less-than-fabulous experiences with the rice at Shimizu (colder than I'd expect, and a little dry). How have yours been? Back to topic: Anyone other than BryanZ have a thought on how the rice at Sasabune is? ← I had this to say about Sasabune's rice in an earlier post: "- The rice is very warm, and heavily vinegared. This gives it an interesting taste, but sometimes provides too strong a counterpoint to (rather than complementing) the fish it comes with. Because of this (and the aforementioned over-saucing), it also tends to fall apart rather easily, even if the pieces are held super-carefully." As far as the rice goes at Shimizu, I did notice it to be uncharacteristically cold maybe on one or two pieces (there were also times when the fish was so cold it did not even taste fully thawed), but as that was really a one-off occurrence I pretty much ignored it. I find the rice there, on the whole, to be pretty much average for a restaurant of that caliber.

I have never seen fish pre-sliced at Yasuda...I always see the chefs at the bar slicing the fish (especially if you're asking for something a little more bizarre, like engawa). Perhaps the fish for the prix-fixe sushi combos is pre-sliced? I don't know. As far as omakase being a two-ways street goes...of course I agree. You can't expect to walk into a place one time and have it be tailored to your tastes or expect special attention. What struck me is that while Sasabune is an omakase-only restaurant, there is absolutely NO personalization in the chef's selections. I have not seen that anywhere. I also want to second Shimizu as a great omakase choice: he has great fish, is very skilled and is an all-around nice guy. He's the only chef there (an assistant helped him with the cooked sushi pieces) and the place has always been near-empty whenever I've been there. If you ask him for a "small appetizer", he'll usually put together something interesting like mirin-marinated salmon, crispy kohada bones or fried whole smelt with ponzu dipping sauce.

Just wanted to weigh in with my own experience here. I have been trying to try Sasabune for a while but every time I called the bar was packed. As I would later find out, however, my experience would be no different if I sat at a table. More on that below. Sasabune is very good and had a few unique characteristics that set it apart from the other high-end sushi places. I would put the sushi quality on par with the more basic-style pieces that are served at Gari. The overall sushi is probably a shade below Jewel Bako, Shimizu or Ushi Wakamaru and not quite at the same level as Kuruma or Yasuda. 1. Albacore sashimi in ponzu 2. Kumamoto oysters w/ daikon and ponzu 3. Yellowfin tuna (two pieces, one with unagi sauce, one without) 4. Yellowtail (two pieces, one with lemon, one plain) 5. Striped bass w/ponzu and daikon & fluke w/ponzu 6. Scottish salmon w/kelp and toasted sesame seeds & scallop 7. Horse mackeral (aji) & bonito (katsuo) 8. Sea bass & kanpachi 9. Black sea bass & cooked butterfish (modai) w/unagi sauce, gunkan-style 10. Blue crab hand roll 11. (my request) katsuo & uni total cost: $83.50 before tax and tip A few things to note: - Everybody gets the same thing, in the same order, which I guess makes sense. Normally omakase is a bit more of a personalized experience, though. At the end of the meal Kenji mentioned that next time I should tell him if I preferred a Japanese omakase, where I would have received some of the more exotic offerings (which aren't TOO crazy), like amaebi or mirugai. - All of the fish is pre-sliced (this might explain the above); even the albacore plates are in a fridge with seran wrap on top. This is understandable, since there is only one chef to serve sushi to an entire sushi-only restaurant of people, but it seems to go against the whole point of omakase. I think many people expect their omakase meal (especially if it will be north of $80 bucks/per person) to not be pre-prepared. I'm not sure if this is the modus operandi at all the Sasabune locations, but it was something I had never seen before. That being said, the fish was still excellent and delicious -- and I would not have been able to tell if it had been pre sliced or not had I not glanced behind the counter. - The accompaniments to the fish are sometimes a bit overwhelming. The pieces with lemon tasted as if they had been soaked in it. The albacore was swimming in its ponzu. - The rice is very warm, and heavily vinegared. This gives it an interesting taste, but sometimes provides too strong a counterpoint to (rather than complementing) the fish it comes with. Because of this (and the aforementioned over-saucing), it also tends to fall apart rather easily, even if the pieces are held super-carefully. My final verdict is that I indeed enjoyed my meal at Sasabune, but can't say I would be back unless I happened to be in the neighborhood. For that price point, you can approach the omakase offerings at Yasuda, Shimizu or Ushi Wakamaru (nothing beats the 15-pc omakase for $49) with much greater variety. Sasabune, however, was alluring for a few important reasons: - the mode of serving -- receiving two complementary pieces at a time -- was enjoyable and unlike most other omakase selections (except for Yasuda, sometimes) - Sasabune did have some things that I have not seen at other sushi restaurants: the raw (not seared) bonito was great. The blue crab roll was the best hand roll I've ever had. - All of the pieces are very generously-sized. They are not massive unwieldy slabs of fish (Tomoe, Yama), but are nicely shaped thick cuts. The hand rolls are absolutely massive and stuffed to the point of overflowing. My uni piece had 4-5 tongues of roe in it. - It's rare (for me at least) to have an omakase with the more basic fishes. To be fair, it might be easy to feel a little cheated without any sayori, toro or uni, but there is a beautiful simplicity in having an ultra-really-good version of the "sushi deluxe" that your neighborhood sushi bar offers. Hope this is illuminating for some people interested in trying out the restaurant.

I got to try the Siberian uni two weeks ago when I sat with Mr. Yasuda at the counter. I would describe it as something of a cross between Maine and Santa Barbara sea urchin -- a little firmer than the west coast variety, but still creamy and sweet, without the briney flavor and aftertase of the Maine type. It's defintely my favorite type that I've tried yet.