Date Night at Okra, Omakase-style

I started writing this post two weeks ago and am only getting to it now! 

Michael and I had a lovely and epic date night at Okra at the end of September.  I found out that the restaurant actually did offer a rarely-known and completely unadvertised omakase menu, and called to inquire about it.

It was quite a treat, but I have to admit that I would probably not go back for the specialized tasting menu.  I prefer the rowdier and slightly more impersonal but still intimate vibe of the restaurant downstairs.  For the night we were there to try the omakase, there was only one other couple, and the entire place was very quiet (no music).  We had the chef who was cooking for us (and clearly listening to our conversation) and serving our food, and then a waiter there purely to serve drinks.  I found the setting a bit too stiff and personal for my taste.  Even when murmuring or speaking directly to Michael, the other couple and the wait staff could clearly hear everything we were saying.  However, I thought the food was fantastic - innovative, delicious, fresh.  It was clearly a labor of love and passion.  Only a crazy person would put this much work and effort into preparing such a lavish multi-course meal on a nightly basis, and I mean that in the absolute best possible way!

The first appetizer got me very excited for the meal for the evening.  I thought it set the tone perfectly - pickled shishito peppers (which the chef informed us he grew on the rooftop) paired with morel mushrooms and toasted pine nuts sprinkled with some dazzlingly tasty flaky concoction.

The presentation of every dish was just lovely.

I particularly loved the tomato paired with a salty, earthy sauce made out of shrimp brains (sorry, that's what it is!) paired with delicious fresh flowering herbs that had an unexpectedly tart taste.

  

I am never one to pass up sea urchin or seaweed, but I didn't love the slightly sweet sticky gelatinous "stuff" (sorry, it has been too long since I had the meal!) underneath.

 

 This appetizer was the only fail of the night, in my opinion - this was several different kinds of mushrooms cooked in a dark broth lotus seed.  Compared to the other dishes which popped with vibrant flavors and colors, this one fell kind of flat.

Then came a whole boatload of sushi.  We found out the chef trained and worked at Sushi Yasuda in Manhattan, a restaurant for which I have much veneration.  When he said that, I immediately could see the style in his ultra-traditional preparation - no soy sauce, no wasabi, and a little hand towel for your fingers because you were expected to bring each of sushi piece pinched between your thumb and forefinger, eaten in one bite.  What I found fascinating, compared to many other sushi places I've been to, is his use of aging of the fish.  Given the high fat content in the fatty tuna and ultra fatty tuna, he prepares them using a dry-age method which is meant to bring out more flavor in the meat.

Everything was innovative and creative - like this mackerel roll, which had also been pickled and then prepared with shiso-flavored rice.  It was like nothing I had ever seen or tasted before.

For dessert, it was an amazing peach (the sweetest ever) that I saw him torch and then peel.  He paired it with a beautiful and delicate syrup, but I would have preferred to eat that peach in its pure, unadorned state.  I neglected to capture a picture of a bowl of soup, which was absolutely delicious.  I am a huge soup lover and this one didn't disappoint.