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21 articles
Every omakase counter has an unspoken seating chart, and the corner is not automatically the throne. Here is how American sushi chefs read seat requests, why the neta case and the center stool change your dinner, and how to ask for the spot you want without insulting the house.
A 22% gratuity on a $395 seat reads as generous and amounts to a rounding error in the chef's year. After a lot of conversations at a lot of counters, here's the uncomfortable math of tipping at American omakase — and the five things itamae say actually keep the lights on.
At a 12-seat counter, a phone can be a compliment, a menu, or a mood killer. Here’s how chefs across the US handle diner photography in 2026 — and how to ask without turning dinner into a negotiation.
That opening piece of nigiri isn’t the chef’s best shot—it’s the calibration shot. Here’s what an itamae is reading in your face, your hands, and your soy sauce habits, and how the rest of your omakase gets quietly rewritten after one bite.
At an omakase counter, there is no menu to scan and no dish to swap. That makes the allergy conversation less like a request and more like a reservation of its own. Here is how US chefs plan around serious allergies, when they will ask you to book elsewhere, and why the best meals often begin weeks before the first nigiri.
Before the first nigiri reaches the counter, there is a deposit link, a cancellation window, and a waitlist that moves faster than a knife on saba. Here is how omakase ticketing really works in 2026, and how to navigate it without losing your mind or your money.
A control-freak home cook spends two years saying 'omakase' at every sushi counter in reach and discovers that decision-making was the thing quietly ruining dinner. What happens when you let the kitchen choose — at the counter, at your stove, and everywhere else.
The most sought-after seat in American dining isn't at a big-name sushi bar — it's at a four-stool counter run by a single cook who can't hide behind anyone. We look at why micro-omakase works, what it costs, and how to earn your spot at one.
Omakase isn't just a promise between you and the chef — it's a promise between the chef and a whole invisible network of buyers, dock workers, and third-generation nori roasters. We followed one sushi chef through a week of sourcing decisions to see where the trust actually begins.
Across the country, home cooks are tearing out the dining table and building sushi counters where the couch used to be. Here's how the at-home omakase party works — from seating charts to soy sauce security.
The most talked-about course at a growing number of American omakase counters isn't fish at all — it's a slice of heirloom tomato with a brush of yuzu kosho. We talk to the growers behind the produce and round up the tasting menus where the vegetable course steals the show.
Everyone at the counter is staring at the fish. The chef wishes you'd look down at the rice instead. Here's why shari — not the sashimi — is the real measure of a sushi restaurant.
Before your itamae slices a single piece of tuna, the knives laid out on the counter have already told you the story of your meal. Here's how to decode the yanagiba, the deba, and the usuba — and why blade-spotting might become your favorite part of omakase night.
Behind every great sushi counter sit two unmarked bottles the chef treats like state secrets. We talk to chefs about usukuchi and nikiri — why they blend, age, and hover — and how to fake a decent version in your own kitchen on a Tuesday.
Close your eyes at a sushi counter and you'll notice something most diners miss: the meal starts in your ears. From the whisper of a knife through bluefin to the crackle of binchotan, sound is the first course — and you can cook with it at home, too.
Chawanmushi is showing up at Michelin counters, ponzu is glazing wings at your local sports bar, and nanban-style fried chicken is quietly taking over happy hours. Here's how Japanese techniques slipped into American dining without anyone throwing a party.
American sushi eaters default to salmon and tuna while chefs quietly mourn the mackerel. We talk to the itamae building entire menus around 'unfashionable' fish — and show you where to buy them without breaking the bank.
The sushi you order on Friday night carries two centuries of baggage — most of it invented by street vendors in a city that kept burning down. We trace the Edomae lineage from Edo's fast-food stalls to the California roll, with US-based sushi chefs weighing in on what 'authenticity' even means anymore.
Regulars at serious sushi counters don't judge a chef by their otoro — they judge by the egg. Here's why tamagoyaki is the itamae's final exam, and how to read it like a local.
Nervous about your first omakase? We sat down with a working American sushi chef to settle the big questions: hands or chopsticks, sake rules, and the one mistake that quietly breaks a chef's heart.
We break down exactly where your money goes at every tier of the American omakase spectrum — from strip-mall sushi-ya to two-Michelin-key temples in Manhattan. Plus: the red flags that signal cut corners, and how to score a budget-friendly 'chef's choice' experience without the fine-dining markup.