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An Unorthodox New Omakase Opens on the LES Today

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Kissaki is chef Mark Garcia’s newest sushi restaurant, serving yellowtail with pepper-infused butter and other eclectic bites

Inside a restaurant with white and red striped walls, tall green chairs propped up against a wooden counter and on the opposite side some more green chairs against red tables
Kissaki is the new venture from the inventive chef behind former Astoria sushi bar Gaijin
Signe Birck

Kissaki — the anticipated new omakase restaurant from the popular chef behind former Astoria sushi bar Gaijin — opens today on the Lower East Side, at 319 Bowery, between First and Second Streets.

Mark Garcia brings his quirky and unusual takes on sushi to his new restaurant in dishes like the bluefin tuna with caviar, yuzu zest, and plum soy sauce; Buri, a type of Japanese yellowtail, served with soy sauce and pepper-infused butter; and broiled Kinmedai, a bright-red fish, served with a crispy, honey-infused radish garnish.

“I really want customers to come in here and have fun and have a laugh,” says Garcia. “I hope that comes across through my conversations with them.”

Garcia has developed a reputation for being an innovative sushi chef, and he’s bringing more of that creativity to his new restaurant. Prior to helming the kitchen at Astoria’s Gaijin, Garcia worked at top Chicago Japanese restaurants Momotaro and Sushi Kaze. At Gaijin, he was known for his innovative nigiri like tuna with butter-roasted shiitake mushrooms and toasted almonds hidden in the rice.

Pieces of black nori wrapped around chunks of orange uni fish
kissaki hokaido uni
Signe Birck
A slice of pink tuna belly with some shavings of ginger on top
Kissaki otoro
Signe Birck
A brown bowl that holds a brown soup-like dish with some chopped greens on top. A wooden spoon is adjacent to the bowl
Chawanmushi
Signe Birck

Garcia’s omakase is complemented by kaiseki-style plates dished out by chef Evan Zagha, who previously worked at David Bouley’s former Tribeca Japanese restaurant Brushstroke. In 16 courses — which includes a back-and-forth between the omakase and kaiseki dishes — Zagha serves plates like soy-poached duck served with a Japanese-style spinach salad, Japanese ginger, and a yuzu miso sauce, or a stir-fry made with sesame yuzu sauce, bamboo shoots, and watermelon radish. In all, the meal sets diners back by $160 per person.

“You come in not knowing what you will eat, but hopefully leave fulfilled and entertained,” says Zagha.

The intimate restaurant — decked in red oak fixtures, dark blue wallpaper featuring hand-drawn gold fish, and a long wooden sushi bar — seats 16 at the bar, and has 12 additional seats for a la carte dining. Kissaki offers multiple seatings per night usually broken up into two groups of eight, and is open Wednesday through Sunday.

The chef Mark Garcia dressed in a white chef’s coat stands against a blue background holding a black fish in his hands
Sushi chef Mark Garcia
Signe Birck

Kissaki

319 Bowery, Manhattan, NY 10003 Visit Website