Natsumi
For many, the word “sushi” alone conjures up all sorts of weird feelings and facial expressions. I happen to be in the group of people who adores sushi. It wasn’t an immediate love affair, by any means. One of my best male friends who I’ve known for, gosh 26 years now, took me for sushi about 24 years ago. We went to a restaurant in NYC, or was it Morristown, NJ. I can’t remember. We spent a lot of time in the city too, but I’m remembering Morristown for some reason. Anyway, I went home hungry and with no desire to revisit the sushi thing again…for many, many years.
My next experience with sushi…hmmmm….had to about 11 years ago. It started out slowly with California rolls, the novice sushi. The sushi that’s “real” not sushi made of cucumber, avacados and cooked crab meat and, of course, rice. So for those who like their fish cooked, this is a great way to get started if many of your friends are hounding you to join them!
Sushi became a weekly ritual for me about five years ago when my daughters would go spend a night during the week with their dad. It was my night to not cook and eat whatever I chose, and I regularly chose sushi. I began experimenting with tuna, salmon, and even eel, which is incredibly surprising since the thought of snakes just makes me cringe.
One of my favorite places to go when I’m in NYC is Natsumi. My first visit was about four years ago when I spent a long weekend with friends and we were waiting in line to get discounted tickets to Wicked. My friend darted off and returned with sushi rolls for us to eat while waiting. That was just an appetizer. After we scored tickets, we went to Natsumi for a complete dinner. For non-sushi eaters, I guess you could liken the communal sushi-eating experience to a clam bake or oyster roast, or even a tail gating party before the big game. Everyone participating understands each other’s love of raw fish, rolled into bite-sized pieces, the wasabi and ginger, green tea and saki (for some). The fullness you feel afterward and the knowledge that you’ve eaten clean food. Yum!
Natsumi, 226 West 50th Street, New York City
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It is so funny that you wrote this today. We had a tweet up here revolving around sushi and sake. Michael Carnell can’t stand sushi, and I don’t like sake, so we both ponied up to the table and did our parts to do things outside of our comfort zones.
I love sushi. I’m firmly in that camp.
It’s always good to try something new. Must have been a fun tweet up. I wish I were there to see the look on your face when you drank sake!
And I am firmly in the camp that sushi would be much better if it was breaded and deep fried! I know that is heresy, but it still just doesn’t tickle my fancy. Watching Andra drink sake is a riot though,
And on a separate note, I envy you getting to see Wicked like rpthat. Very cool!
Wicked was a lot of fun! In fact, the process of scoring discounted tickets was probably a bit more memorable. There were three of us and when we went to get tickets on the Friday night, we were finally first in line and they announced that they were sold out. We went back the following day for a lottery of sorts and we were the last three to be called. And we all sat together to see the show that day!
As I mentioned to Andra, I wish I were there to see the look on her face when she tried sake and your’s when you tried sushi! Hope you at least enjoyed the tweet up.
Fun read, I was a reluctant sushi novice many years ago and definitely went with the California Rolls the first few times. Then I went with some friends to a place in San Francisco where one would sit up at big long bar and just point at dishes to try. My friends made suggestions and I pretty much sampled everything. It was a really fun experience and freed me up on trying new dishes in general.
Thanks for sharing, brought back nice memories of San Fran for me.
If you’re going to eat sushi, San Francisco is a great place to do it! I need to get out there. Glad you enjoyed the experience. Thanks for sharing!!
ohhh – I SO WISH I liked sushi – I know it is good/clean food, but I just can’t do it. I’ve tried half a dozen times – started with California rolls, tried the ‘good stuff’ as my novice friends put it, but can just never wrap my tongue around the flavor. WIsh I had a more advanced palate
Danielle, I don’t think eating sushi has to do with how advanced someone’s palate is. Some of it is actually bland. It’s the soy sauce and Wasabi that spices it up. I still love it though! Thanks for commenting, even if it’s to say you don’t like it!