Sushi Zo

Many of the city’s established sushi masters (Masa Takayama, Jimmy Lau) got their start in L.A., but if New Yorkers want to experience the uniquely spare, no-nonsense West Coast omakase style, this unassuming 18-seat branch of the famous L.A. restaurant of the same name is the place to do it. In keeping with the L.A. school’s famously no-nonsense, Zenlike aesthetic, the atmosphere in the unobtrusive little dining room just below Washington Square is quiet, bordering on hushed. The fish is fresh, expertly sourced, and beautifully cut, and your only option every evening is the take-it-or-leave-it $200 omakase chef’s choice dinner. This seemed like an awful lot to pay when the restaurant opened a couple of years back, but compared to today’s stratospheric power-sushi prices, it could almost be considered a relative bargain.