Sushi Seki Bar & Oysters

Sushi Seki Bar & Oysters Restaurant Review:

Chef Seki has expanded his sushi empire to include a blond-wood, airy restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. Taking over the footprint of now-closed Firebird, the place’s two floors offer a variety of Japanese dining experiences with pre-theater ($45) and post-theater bar offerings as well. The second floor is where you’ll find chef Seki crafting an inventive and always surprising omakase tasting, the kind that established his renown among patrons and chefs alike at his Upper East Side venue. Along the narrow corridor are three tatami rooms for à la carte dining, leading to a bar. On the first floor, past a whiskey bar and an intricate display of saké bottles, is an open kitchen flanked by counter stools and an adjacent communal table where the chef’s $100 Kappo menu is served. This seven-course menu, a less pricey version of the omakase, is changed frequently with the likes of negimaki, crudo, sushi, red snapper soup, chicken katsu and monkfish liver. A drink pairing menu for $60 has a range of warm and cold saké, wine and beer. À la carte selections go beyond sushi, to comprise tempura, noodle dishes, oysters, cooked fish and teriyaki. For dessert, try chef Seki’s Asian-fusion choices like panna cotta made with Japanese azuki beans and served with apple poached in Portuguese wine, or the crème brûlée infused with Japanese matcha and garnished with fruit. Also located at 1143 First Ave., 212-371-0238; and 208 W. 23rd St., 212-255-5988.