Nothing prepares you for the sensory onslaught that is Atsuhiro Kajita’s sushi bar at the edge of Chinatown—not the unassuming sign above the iron security gates, not the lounge-like vibe, certainly not any sushi omakase you may have been to. Black walls hold kabuki masks, graffiti art and angry geisha prints bathed in purple glows. In case you miss the point, “I like it raw” screams in neon above a warmly lit sushi counter that is, at first glance, traditional.
Hiro no Uchi opened last year in the old Islander Sake sushi space on North King Street. The $150 omakase is still largely off the mainstream radar, partly because Kajita comes from the world of private catering, crafting nigiri sushi in people’s homes during COVID. When the pandemic receded, he says, so did demand, and Kajita, who trained at Morimoto and Nobu—both unfettered by Japanese culinary conventions—laid out plans for his first solo counter.
Kajita’s sushi comes from the foundations of old-school itamae training, where he followed a tiered progression from washing dishes to frying eggs to handling rice and seafood. That rice is mixed with red vinegar and paired with seafood from Japan, much of it seasonal. Departures from convention are in the garnishes, which are numerous and layered and surprising, and in Kajita’s love of showmanship, which is bold and immediate: No glass seafood case separates you from the smoking, torching, frying and other flourishes he executes before each course…