Muku — Restaurant in New York

The bottom line: Muku (無垢) is one of those rare NYC restaurants that would be a success even in Japan. The chef, Manabu Asanuma, is absolutely brilliant, and his cuisine is full of bold flavors and fresh ideas. Many will recognize him as the former “sous chef” at Ichimura—turns out that somewhat unusually, Chef Ichimura really focused on sushi, leaving the conception and preparation of all of the wonderful otsumami essentially entirely to Chef Asanuma. That was a huge—and very well-deserved—vote of confidence for Chef Asanuma at one of the top sushi shops in NYC. For a restaurant that just opened, Muku is certainly starting off on sure footing. Every dish was cooked to perfection, highlighting the loveliest seasonal ingredients (kamo-nasu eggplant, I’m looking at you) with real delicacy. I learned that Chef Asanuma intends to change the menu every month, and I strongly recommend that everyone try to get in before the end of September so that you can try some of the dishes currently being prepared. It’s worth mentioning that the dessert—usually a weak point of kaiseki meals—was fantastic. Fresh and rich at once, and so flavorful, with a fun combination of textures. For me, this speaks to the chef’s commitment to giving guests a great meal from start to finish. In addition to being impressed by the food, we very much enjoyed the attentive service and expertly curated wine/sake pairings. For wine lovers, Muku definitely provides the only beverage experience at this level for this kind of cuisine in the entire city—no other Japanese restaurant can compete with this wine program! (Hat-tip to beverage director Steve Kim.) As far as atmosphere goes, this is the kind of place you could come with a good friend, a colleague, a date—really anyone but a kid, I guess—and have a great time, and that kind of versatility is kind of unusual on the NYC restaurant scene. Anyway, I’m looking forward to many more meals here, and encourage anyone reading this to give...

My new favorite Japanese restaurant in NYC. It’s on level with restaurants of this class in Tokyo. In a few months, once word gets out, it’ll probably be impossible to get a...

One of the best Japanese restaurants in New York! Love the attentive services and every single course...