I went to this very interesting place today, having read about it a while ago, and finally having a reason to get there.
Okume, at 50 Norman, is where I'd previously encountered a Nordic restaurant/shop called, yes...Norman. Okume is actually one of 3 shops sharing one address.
Citone is a "lifestyle" shop, or what I call housewares/kitchenware. Fancy stuff. Designer stuff. $75 soy sauce dipping bowl stuff.
House Brooklyn - a small, intimate little restaurant, serving a 9-course tasting menu.
The third shop is Okume.
It is where I had this for lunch:
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Fish TEISHOKU - Japanese SET Meal
You can enjoy our Fish "Teishoku", Japanese Set Meal at DASHI OKUME. We brought the best of Tokyo (Fish, Rice, Miso, and Dashi) selected by our connoisseur for this Teishoku.
This is what lunch looked like... (AND HERE'S THE MENU).
The salmon was from Japan, cooked perfectly and delicious. The rice was insane - as good as mine! And then I saw it being sold at like $40 for a kilo bag, and I'm glad I have my own supplier. Really a lovely lunch.
But the rest of Okume is like nothing I've seen before. In addition to half a dozen types of instant dashi (the kind that looks like a tea bag and gets brewed - like a tea bag), sold already prepackaged (and with samples of each style in kettles for tasting), the have a display of close to 30 different dried ingredients, from which you may pick and choose however many you decide; then they blend and bag it for you on the spot!
There are plenty of other Japanese imported fancy-food stuffs. All high-end - I refrained, other than buying two 15-pack bags of dashi.
I'm already plotting a return visit.
