Chef Masatoshi Sugio has developed a sort of cult around the preciously presented, unusually sauced sushi at his tiny, out-of-the-way Sushi of Gari on far East 78th Street, NY. He opened a bigger place at Columbus and 78th Street, to make the commute easier for such devotees as Yoko Ono and Kevin Kline… (ah - more sushi celebrities!). He said the main barrier to expansion was not real estate, but finding someone to make sushi his way. “I had to train the new chef for many, many years to understand my style”. He has a branch in Aoyama, Tokyo too.

Food and Wine calls him an avant-garde Master. At Sushi of Gari and the new offshoot, Gari, in Manhattan, chef Sugio specializes in innovative flavorings that never overshadow the taste of the fish. Here are some of his 130 radical inventions: tai salad (Japanese red snapper with microgreens, pine nuts and a lotus-root chip); sautéed foie gras with balsamic mousse; bluefin toro with ponzu mousse; marinated tuna with pine nuts on fried nori; marinated tuna with tofu sauce; squid with shiso flowers.

Kaitegaho.com reports: “To keep diners from dredging sushi in soy sauce, Masatoshi Sugio invented sauces that don’t mask the fresh ingredients he imports three times a week. He changes his sake selections seasonally.

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