This is not an opening yet, but a possible opening much later. Yet, if it happens, it will bring joy to many of us. First, the context:
I was there after the transition, and getting passable packaged takeout near the old omakase counter was more than I could bear. So I stopped.
But I was back there today, for weird sentimental reasons. I last had their omakase almost exactly 5 years ago. Then, pandemic, followed by the transition mentioned above. But I have this summer gig in Harvard Square (some of you may have caught my act as I failed year after year to catch flaming torches), and after 4 zoom years I was back in the flesh this summer. In the past I often ended with a quiet omakase at Cafe Sushi. Not an option today, but there was the takeout. I have good news:
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As takeout goes, it was pretty good, especially their “Signature Sushi”. I had branzino topped with iced onion and sesame sauce, amberjack topped with a trace of cherry, tuna with yuzu and scallion, and salmon belly with ponzu (two pieces of each). There was other stuff in my order (rolls, etc.), but these stood out in the precision and balance of their execution. They lacked the total balance of the Cafe Sushi of the past (too much rice in each case), but they were among the three best boxed sushis I’ve had in the last 5 years. The best was this, and the next best delivery from Sushi Noz in NY at the height of the pandemic. That cost me well into the three figures, but it leaned heavily into this uni and that, and it was my 5th or 6th birthday (I forget which) or some combination of those digits. I say this because bronze facing such competition is remarkable.
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There is heavy construction going on in that space (the takeout now is a narrow space at the other end – and is packed with snacks, soy sauces, such as a clear one, etc.) and they say a new restaurant will emerge later this year. Hence my opening statement.
Apart from this, I feel a general joy in the air. Just sayin’ that I’m a happy guy. (And NOT sayin’ that I weirdly love my couch.)
