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UTTERS BURGERS
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(404) 351-0450
2221 Peachtree Rd NE Ste G
Atlanta, GA 30309
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36 February 2016 | INtOWll
Tasting Intown
By Megan Volpert
The secret of Himitsu s success
Friends, prepare to part with your
money. Himitsu belongs in New York and
I’m glad to find it in Atlanta - a city whose
finest chefs have been beleaguered by its
second-class status in national round-ups
of cuisine. The Itos, that sushi master and
pastry chef power couple of Fuyuhiko and
Lisa Matsuoka, are raising their game from
the lovely work they do at Umi to Umi’s
little sister restaurant, this
perfect new hotspot nestled
in a disguised location in
Buckhead.
Himitsu means “secret,”
after all. You have to find
the email address needed
to request a reservation.
They email you back a
confirmation, and then two hours before
your reservation, you receive a keypad
code. Use Umi’s
valet, but you’re not
going to Umi. Turn
a few corners to find
the fake storefront,
enter your keypad
code, then greet your
gatekeeper to the
dining room.
The dining room
is on two levels
and seats about
80 people.
Himitsu’s
ambience is
about finely
blended
combinations
of light and
shadow, from
the stunning
gorgeousness of
its orange blown
glass chandelier hanging
eye level with the balcony
tables to the subtlety of the
yellow tones in the superbly
backlit bar. The bar is the
star of the first floor - or
the bailer corner table with
a velvet bench for three
is the star or the golden
votive holder with precisely
geometric laser cut-outs is
the star, or the very many
kinds of unique barware and
stemware are the star.
This place has ambience
to spare, right down to
the sparse, soft electronica piping in
from hidden speakers and the giant
Todd Murphy mural, “King of the Birds.”
Everything here is nice to look at - brilliant,
edgy, sophisticated. Go with somebody
you want to impress, whether for romance
or signing contracts. Go to celebrate when
you finally get that promotion. Go if you
already like the food at Umi and would
gladly pay a little bit extra for the awesome
atmosphere.
Right now, most of the Himitsu
menu is drawn from Umi’s menu. This
is understandable. Himitsu is the type of
place where management thinks just as
much about design and service as it does
about food, and they are taking their time
to get each element right. By the time you’re
making reservations for Valentine’s Day,
they’ll be ready to show you the menu on
an iPad - little bursts of digital starshine
lighting up the face of the film star at your
neighboring table.
So let us remember that Umi’s
menu is totally great. At
Himitsu, you can find some
of the “sushi boxes,” which
are not bentos but sushi rolls
that are pressed into squares.
They don’t have seaweed
holding them together. The
missing seaweed makes
everything a bit sweeter
and creamier, and the unusual sushi
shape delivers ingredients in a fresh, more
balanced way for the
palate to consider.
Don’t forget to order
the avocado salad.
Is it really just a half
avocado with a pit
dent full of wasabi
vinaigrette? Yes and
no. Technically, yes.
But they could bottle
that wasabi
vinaigrette and
retire next year
on the windfall.
You can also
just go for drinks
and dessert. We
got five fluffy
profiteroles piled
like something
out of The
Grand Budapest
Hotel, each
filled with an individually
icy gem of black sesame,
yuzu, ginger, green tea or
five spice. Wow, the five spice
- a perfect wintry mix of
warm and mysterious. The
mille-feuille was also manna
from heaven, with its two
layers of chocolate between
an infinitude of paper-
thin French pastry slices
and layers of cream, miles
beyond a good tiramisu.
Plan to order two
different cocktails. I’m
not worried about which
ones - this selection of divinely balanced
cocktails is the work of Shingo Gokan, who
performed similar magic at legendary NYC
speakeasy Angel’s Share in NYC. Himitsu
is the lovechild of a restaurant development
dream team, and it shows in the every
detail. Sure, it’s pricey, but consider Himitsu
as a brief staycation in the land of elite
privilege for moments when decent sushi
alone is simply not enough. ESI
Megan Volpert lives in Decatur, teaches
in Roswell and writes books about popular
culture.
AtlantalNtownPaper.com