Scenes From Sushi Uo's Omakase: Creations of a 23-Year-Old American Sushi Chef

When you sit down at the sushi bar at Sushi Uo, a new Japanese restaurant on the Lower East Side, the first thing you might notice is that the head sushi chef isn't Japanese; he's an American named David Bouhadana. The second thing you notice is how young he looks--because he's 23. Ascending to executive chef at any restaurant at such a young age would be an accomplishment, but it's even more impressive when you realize that Bouhadana had to figure out that sushi was his calling, travel to train under a master in Japan, come back to the States to work at Morimoto, and then open his own restaurant, all before his peers were done binge-drinking in Europe.

Later today, we'll run an interview with Bouhadana, in which he'll tell us how he managed all this. But first, take a look at some of the chef's dishes, created for an omakase (literally "It's up to you," like a tasting menu) meal at the sushi bar about two weeks ago. Above is fluke with homemade ponzu sauce--Bouhadana makes all his own sauces, including soy--spicy daikon, ginger, and scallions.

A break in the sushi is filled with a hot dish from the kitchen: Braised short ribs in root beer with potato puree, pink peppercorns and pickled fennel.

A sushi and sashimi platter, including mackerel, live orange clam, sea urchin, and Japanese sardine.

Sushi Uo
151 Rivington Street
212-677-5470