Naka Kaiseki, the Japanese restaurant showcasing wunderkind chef Shota Nakajima, is a place for daring eaters. The real experience is the 10-course kaiseki, a formal tasting menu guided by strictures that prescribe what each course should entail. Although Nakajima adheres to the genre’s customary order and general reverence for beauty (see his devotion to stunningly presented raw fish dishes and straight-up classics like miso soup and shiitake chawanmushi ), he takes liberties with flavors in less traditional dishes such as an Italian-influenced amaretto custard or peeled cherry tomatoes with caramel. The European wine pairings are spot-on. (If you’re the kind of diner who always has to be in the driver’s seat, eat at the bar, where you can choose your own adventure, menu-wise.)
Naka Kaiseki, the Japanese restaurant showcasing wunderkind chef Shota Nakajima, is a place for daring eaters. The real experience is the 10-course kaiseki, a formal tasting menu guided by strictures that prescribe what each course should entail. Although Nakajima adheres to the genre’s customary order and general reverence for beauty (see his devotion to stunningly presented raw fish dishes and straight-up classics like miso soup and shiitake chawanmushi ), he takes liberties with flavors in less traditional dishes such as an Italian-influenced amaretto custard or peeled cherry tomatoes with caramel. The European wine pairings are spot-on. (If you’re the kind of diner who always has to be in the driver’s seat, eat at the bar, where you can choose your own adventure, menu-wise.)
