Shinn East is an incredibly popular omakase restaurant that opened up a few years ago around Tompkins Square park at 119 East 7th Street. If you don’t know what omakase is, it’s a premium style of chefs-choice sushi dining, in which you surrender your menu choices for a fully personalized experience hand-crafted by an elite sushi chef. Some of the highest-rated Michelin-starred restaurants in the world are omakase restaurants as they’re a unique way for sushi chefs to demonstrate their mastery of the craft.
Unfortunately for the average foodie, omakase restaurants tend to be extremely exclusive, often charging a premium and serving a maximum of 10 people at one time. This has the effect of raising the restaurant’s prestige and can often lead to months-long reservation lists. When Shinn East first arrived in New York, they wanted to provide New Yorker’s with a more accessible omakase experience – and that’s exactly what they did.
Shinn East was founded by restaurateur Linda Wang and chef Mike Lian. Linda Wang was the founder of Ume in Williamsburg, a prestigious Japanese restaurant that also specialized in omakase. For Shinn East, she decided to partner up with Chef Mike, who at the age of 23 is currently one of the youngest sushi chefs working in the country right now. Don’t let his age fool you though, Chef Mike earned his pedigree working as the sushi chef at Sushi by Bou, an elite sushi restaurant in the former Versace Mansion in Miami.
Now, after successfully running one of the most popular omakase restaurants in the East Village, the team is expanding with a second location right around the corner. Thirteen Water is expected to arrive later this year at 208 East 7th Street, between Avenues B and C. Replacing a beauty salon that previously occupied the space, the new restaurant should be able to seat between 12 and 16 people at one time, around one central U-shaped bar.
Omakase is traditionally a very intimate experience and Shinn East is no exception. While you’ll probably have to put in an early reservation to get a seat, they also offer takeout omakase boxes if you can’t wait for a reservation. For more information regarding reservations and takeout, be sure to visit their website to take a look at their menu.
