Nipponista event at Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York | I just want 2 eat

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Nipponista event at Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

image of Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

Last Wednesday, I was invited to Nipponista, an event organized by Tabélog US, the largest Japanese restaurant review website and hosted by Isetan, the largest department store in Japan at Maison O in Soho. The purpose is to showcase Japanese fashion, art, food, lifestyle and craftsmanship. 
image of Chef Tadashi Ono from Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

The dinner, prepared for the occasion by Chef Tadashi Ono, the former executive chef of Matsuri (above) was paired with Mizubasho sake presented by Mr Shoichi Nagai (below), the chairman of Nagai Sake Inc. who made each sake presentation interesting.
image of Shoichi Nagai from Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

He greeted us with a glass of Mizubasho Sparkling Sake:
image of Mizubasho Sparkling Sake at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

I never had sparkling sake before and did not even know it existed! 

The evening continued with a presentation by Kanso groceries of dashi and an explanation about umami,  the fifth taste sensation after sweet, sour, bitter and salty. To show us how dashi enhances flavors, they made us taste some miso with water (left) and some miso with dashi (right).
image of Miso tasting at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

We could definitely taste the difference, the first one being tasteless and the second one being flavorful. They proceeded to explain to us how to make it, using dried bonito:
image of dried bonito at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

and Hana-Kombu (kelp):
image of Hana-Kombu or kelp at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

You let both elements infuse like you would make tea, et voila! 
image of dashi at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York


Then, we had some amuse bouche. The first one was Dashikarikori-kan with black truffle:

image of Dashikarikori-kan with black truffle at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

And the second one Kumamoto Oysters:
image of Kumamoto Oysters at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

They were served with ponzu ice:
image of Kumamoto Oysters at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

Then, we go a black cod:
image of black cod at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

It was steamed with sake and served with a dash-kanten gravy. In the bottom was some daikon. This was a great dish: the fish was perfectly cooked, flaky with a delicate taste. 

It was paired with a Mizubashojunmaidai-ginjo premiere sake:
image of Mizubashojunmaidai-ginjo premiere sake at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

They served it in a silver cup that is suppose to give a smoother taste to the sake. 
image of silver sake glass at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

In fact, we event tried in a regular sake glass and definitely tasted the difference.
image of silver sake glass at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

They came a dish that I really wanted to try as soon as I read the menu: a ribeye steak with caramelized onions and a grilled rice ball:
image of ribeye at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

The presentation was beautiful and this dish delicious. First of all, the ribeye was perfectly cooked medium. Then, there was this rice ball that was crunchy on the outside and not dry at all on the inside, pairing perfectly with the steak and even with the caramelized onions that added a nice sweetness to the dish.

With the steak, we had a glass of Mizubasho vintage 2004 sake:
image of Mizubasho vintage 2004 sake at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

I truly appreciated it with my steak and even ranked this sake my favorite of the evening. I admit that I never thought about drinking sake with a ribeye, going usually for a bold red wine like pinot noir.

Last was dessert. 
image of dessert at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

It was a dish composed of a coconut panna cotta with a melon compote.
image of coconut panna cotta at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

This was very light and refreshing and we could definitely taste that it was made with coconut milk.

The second dessert was a Green Tea tiramisu:
image of green tea tiramisu at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

This was also very good: light, it was interesting to see how green tea and coffee pair well together.

As it was a sake tasting, it was served with a dessert sake:
image of dessert sake at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

The packaging was beautiful and looked a bit like a perfume bottle in a way.
image of dessert sake at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New Yorkimage of dessert sake at Nipponista Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

We had a wonderful time at Maison O, enjoying the evening with our friend Malini, The Restaurant Fairy, and talking with other bloggers, especially Chubby Chinese Girl Eats, Johnny Prime Steaks and The Cake Dealer as well as the organizers and hosts. It is always interesting to discover other cuisines, other flavors

Thanks to Tabélog, Isetan, Nagai Sake, Inc and Maison O for this great event that was covered by NHK TV:

Enjoy (I did)!

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