Hoseki: Intimate sushi counter inside Saks 5th Ave in Midtown | Neighborhood Eats
MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) -- This week's Neighborhood Eats travels to Hoseki, an intimate sushi counter in Midtown, Manhattan.
It's somewhat of a hidden gem located on the lower level of Saks Fifth Avenue, in what's considered the "jewelry floor." In fact, the name itself, Hoseki, translates to "jewel" in Japanese.
Maxwell Weiss is the owner of the lunch-only sushi counter, which seats six people and includes 12 courses.
"You wouldn't believe how good the sushi is in the basement," Weiss said. "Each course is primarily a piece of nigiri, which is fish over rice."
He says their fish comes from around the world, with most of it coming from Japan.
"We're using a variety of different distributors and producers," he said.
Chef Morgan Adamson creates the menu and changes it as she sees fit with a lot of attention to seasonality, freshness and other seasonal ingredients that match the fish.
"We really, really try to make every small detail as perfect as possible and I think that's a lot about what omakase sushi means to me," Weiss said.
Adamson described the process in preparing some of the courses, including the kombu kelp cured hirame fluke.
"The fish will be cleaned, skinned, and then wrapped in kombu kelp leaves," Adamson said. "It's the piece that's used at the beginning of the omakase and it helps to open up the pallet. This one is dressed with yuzu. Naturally colored, naturally flavored yuzu salt."
Adamson said they have a vendor, Makiku-San, who has a bunch of special salts that compliments the fish.
We really, really try to make every small detail as perfect as possible and I think that's a lot about what omakase sushi means to meHoseki owner Maxwell Weiss
"I think it's nice to have something that just like accents it, but doesn't take away from the natural flavor of the fish," she said.
How about the kinmedai, golden eye snapper?
"It has a little bit of natural sweetness on its own. Torching the skin just to kind of help make it easier to chew, but also brings out a little bit of fattiness, a little bit different flavor, and then put a little bit of licorice salt on top," Adamson said.
She says a lot of chefs have their own style for cutting the scallop, but she has a way that brings a little more texture while making look even more beautiful.
"And then put a little bit of finger limes on top to create a little bit of crunch and a little bit of sourness, and sometimes a little bit of yuzu zest," Adamson said.
She says she wanted to have something special to place the nigiri pieces on, the same way jewelry is on display in the vault.
"Wanted the nigiri pieces to feel like they were properly honored in the space too," she said. "My grandfather who is 81 has gotten really into glass blowing and I wanted him to make something special for the space. So it feels like my grandfather's art is here and then I'm making a piece of art displayed on his art."
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