Satsko

Last night saw me head out with 'The NYC Girls'. I did first write 'The Girls' but that felt a little strange. I think having a posse in each city is the way to go ;-)

Satsko was recently listed in NY TimeOut's Tony 100 aka the New York Foodie Bible, which E devours religiously. In her words ... 'this place jumped out at me'. So there we were, five friends - some have known each other for years and others relatively new to the group. None of that mattered last night. We all share the passion for good food, quality sake and not letting the drafty door distract us from our evening.

Our cute waiter was full of suggestions and the hot bartender kept the sake flights coming, in an attempt to satisfy K's discerning palate. Rice varieties, regions and fermentation methods were discussed opening my eyes to an unknown world. I listened intently, took a taste of each small glass and tried to remember what I should look for when confronted with a comprehensive sake list. After many tasters we settled on the "Demon Slayer” Wakatake Onigoroshi junmai daiginjo (Dry).

The food came, with slightly lenghty delays between courses. To start we sampled the tender Hamachi tuna, grease-less Calamari, Sesame Tofu Salad and Mango Salad. All came in perfect tiny bite size bits. It took even the most motivated (me!!) a long time to get through them. What followed was even more divine ... Ill tempered Bass accompanied by Pumpkin mash which in words of cute waiter 'makes out with your tongue' ... Pistachio Crusted Yellowfin Tuna, over sweet potato daulphoinoise ... and a Risotto like I have never tasted before. Instead of chicken stock they used a kelp stock, the base of most Japanese dishes ... Yum. At that point as I am ready to give up sex for a month if it means eating like this every night, our waiter appears and surprises us further. Dessert ... homemade ice-cream, including the 'best green tea ever' and 'aged sake' flavours ... warm ginger cake, which was just like sticky toffee pudding only ginger. By now you are probably wondering about the chef ... Sean Bath, a Kiwi!! Why is it the chefs that impress me the most lately are from Australia or New Zealand? Something about the unmatched quality of Asian fusion they have mastered.

While we were immersed in the wondrous flavours and textures presented before us, the restaurant around us was a constant moving space. People coming and going, a lot of locals greeted by name as they passed the threshold of the tiny restaurant. They would gather around the bar for impromptu sake bomb competitions. Come midnight, the music volume went up five notches and the steady stream of sake bomb lovers continued.