*Sakagura

I have not seen S in what feels like years! So, it was so sweet of her to set up dinner. S went to NYU Med School with W, S, E - a whole group us us and she would play the guitar and I'd sing mostly Ani. We once tried to do a sing along at T's birthday picnic and realized, um, wow, these songs are angry dyke songs not appropriate for such a jovial occaision. Since then, S has moved to Brooklyn with K, is finishing up her PhD and just ran the New York triathalon. A triathalon! She swam in the Hudson River and got stung all over by jellyfish! Now that is some dedication. I salute you.

Sakagura is one of my favorite Japanese restaurants. E, who had brought me to my first snowboarding run, brought me to Sakagura for lunch. We walked into a B list corporate office, went past the security guard and started going down very scary stairs to the basement. Where are you taking me? Are you selling me into slavery? We crossed the threshold into a little Japanese village replete with beautiful flower arrangements and those fancy toilets that "oscillate" and "flush forward." Note, look up. There are little masks above the bathroom doors that indicate gender.

Aside from the cuteness, the food is UNBELIEVABLE. Authentic, gorgeously presented, flavorful, perfect. S last night was like, "oh, it's like tapas!" Nearly everything I've eaten there has blown my mind (the shrimp balls with almonds were ok). As you know, I have no memory so I just go through the menu and write everything down and hand the server my order. Easy-peasy. They have these great lunch sets but dinner is where it's at. I highly recommend grilled eggplant with 3 kinds of miso sauce, grilled Japanese squid (there's this great ginger paste that you eat with it - OMG), great seaweed salad, scallion wrapped in duck breast with a dot of pesto, filet mignon that you cook on a hot rock, egg custard (my favorite of all time ever), and this rice soup with roasted salmon.

And there's more! Sakagura has fantastic desserts and we are not talking about green tea ice cream. If you have a bunch of people, order the dessert platter that has everything and is just gorgeous. If it's just a few people, the chocolate lava cake with raspberry sauce and the black sesame creme brulee (see photo) is soooooo yummy. Great food, great service, fun, great for groups and easy reservations on opentable.com.

www.sakagura.com