1. FRENCH LAUNDRY, THE
Yountville, CA
2. PER SE
New York, NY
3. ALINEA
Chicago, IL
4. URASAWA
Los Angeles, CA
5. SAISON
San Francisco, CA
6. MANRESA
Los Gatos, CA
7. JEAN GEORGES
New York, NY
8. MASA
New York, NY
9. MCCRADY’S
Charleston, SC
10. MINI-BAR/É BY JOSÉ ANDRÉS
Wash., DC / Las Vegas, NV
8

Photo Courtesy of: Opinionated About Dining

Masa
New York, NY

10 COLUMBUS CIRCLE, 4TH FL.
212-823-9800
WWW.MASANYC.COM

For many years, Masa Takayama ran a restaurant in Beverly Hills called Ginza Sushiko. Then Thomas Keller came calling, and he convinced Masa to open a restaurant next door to Per Se in the Time Warner Center. With dinner costing an eye-popping $500 after adding ingredients luxury like fugu and truffles, the restaurant caused a stir when it first opened, causing many reviewers to question whether a meal based around raw fish was worth that price. But those who had spent time in Tokyo claimed; "It's the only U.S, restaurant that is on par with the top restaurants in Japan." The quality of the fish is absolutely dazzling; a pastry chef of Japanese descent told us, “I gave up eating sushi on a weekly basis so I could afford to eat at Masa once a month.”