I have gone several times since the mention on this board reminded me that it was less than 3 blocks from my apt. Genuine people cooking great food.
I was delighted to see that they got a star.
Contra got ROBBED!!!
Super happy for Luksus and Semilla.
Surprised Bouley is still 1*. Best lunch in the city (even better than Marea or JG when factoring price in)
Good for them! Hope it helps bring some more people in there.
We went tonight and brought Chef a very nice bottle of bubbles that he will hopefully open after service. The food was amazing and maybe our best meal there. It was also so moving to see the Chef and his son focused on the guests, they could not even go to the Michelin ceremony because there are only two of them. It was slightly busier than usual with a lot of talk about the star - hopefully this translates into more business.
Well deserved second star for The Modern. Had a cracking meal there earlier in the year.
2 weeks ago snuck in 4 quick dishes at cagen, 1/2 cooked 1/2 raw
can’t wait to return and spend some more time there
Excellent, of course.
Also I’d note approvingly that it was pretty full my last meal there (which was on a Tuesday!). Good to see since it had been empty my first visit.
Back last night, probably the best meal we’ve had there. Was empty except the other party of 5 doing sushi omakase as well (so 7 people at the bar, one master sushi chef, that’s it…good luck getting that sort of attention at Shuko/O-ya/etc). Sounded like an anomoly though as he said they were full this weekend and have been very busy.
But, how’s this for awesome - what do most restaurants do when they get a star? Hike prices/lower quality/etc. Not at Cagen - they actually added courses to the sushi omakase, so it’s now 20 pieces (+dessert, amuse, soba) instead of 15. Just awesome. If you haven’t been, I can’t recommend it highly enough.
I saw your instragram post. I go regularly and I agree the food is as good as ever and they are still very wine friendly. They also have a few decent champagnes because one of Skurniks has become a regular.
Amazing food, liberal corkage, family business - support this place!!!
Sounds like the house sparkling is now Raventos, and they currently have a few different Vilmart cuvees in the fridge, and plan on rotating the higher end stuff to see what people like. Totally fine with corkage ($30) as always though.
Cagen will be getting a higher percentage of my sushi meals due to a combination of their high quality and Shuko’s new corkage policy which limits a reservation to a max of two byob. Seems to be relatively strictly adhered to, which is fine if I’m dining by myself but isn’t ideal if I’m with a couple of others.
Just wish there was a bit more energy in Cagen’s dining room.
me, you, and a few mags of bubbles = more energy than anyone can handle.
I think a monthly berserker takeover is in order.
So in for an offline. We’ve been to Cagen the last two weekends. Love it there. They get such interesting and different fish than anyone else.
I was thinking we should do something on on Monday. I bet they would give us the back room which can easily fit 10 people.
I’d be in the weeks I’m in NYC. But aren’t they closed on Mondays?
I was thinking more about taking over the sushi bar. There are 10 seats. Perfect size. I don’t think the experience would be the same without sitting at the bar. They are closed on Mondays…not sure if they would be able to get a delivery to do a private night.
Was about to post the same…sushi bar definitely fits 10. I think Chef Tomita and Rei can use a night off though!
Forgot they are closed on Monday. I am cool with the bar. My only thought on the back versus the bar is that in the back you basically can stay as long as you like and doing a wine dinner would be easier. At the bar we would probably have to be out in time for them to do a second seating. Just FYI I did a dinner in the back and service was a tad slower because the front was full but it was nice to have the whole room to ourselves and to have a separate table for all of the bottles. We should ask them what the arrangements would need to be to take over the whole Sushi bar.
My wife and Rei are bff already…I’ll have her ask him tomorrow when they open up.