Eating and drinking in the USA, part 1

I just got back from a fantastic 22 day trip to the USA, where I continued my eating and drinking adventures. The striking difference between eating in Italy and the USA is the variety of cuisine. US fine-dining establishments tend to be more creative and daring, whilst Italian restaurants stick to the tradition (rightfully so, it works). This is due to the fact that the Italians do not need to be creative, as the things they have been eating throughout the years have always been good. I ate at about 7 or 8 establishments during my trip to the USA, and I plan on writing about each one in separate posts. The first stop was Bozu in Brooklyn, a Japanese tapas bar in the trendy Williamsburg section. I have probably eaten at about 20 sushi restaurants in my life, and although I like it a lot, it tends to not fill me up and leaves me requiring a "pizza chaser" at the end of the evening. This all changed after eating at Bozu, where the individual "pieces" were the size of raquetballs. I first tried it back in August, and it became my favorite sushi place, and secured a place on my top favorite restaurants of all time.

The interior was perfect for a first date. Dimly lit with dark furniture, and a stylish round bar. We were seated right away by a very kind maître d', who promptly offered us cocktails. I am usually turned off by US restaurants when they pressure their patrons into drinking (due to the hefty mark up), but I had to try to $8 house mojito made with shiso mint, and I was glad that I did. It brought out the creativeness that I was going to need in order to properly navigate the menu. Ordering was a bit of a chore. I barely eat sushi anymore, so I am not experienced. We decided to order a lot of food, and just divide it up amongst ourselves. There were 6 of us, so this would give us ample opportunity to sample most of the menu. I was hoping that there would be an Italian wine that we sell at The Roman Wine Company on the menu, so I could do a little pairing and promote the site. But since there wasn't, we opted to pair the meal with something that it was meant to be paired with, sake, the Japanese beverage made from rice. I wish I could comment more on the sake, but we just ordered the one that was suggested to us. I was never a big fan, but my maturing taste buds were able to appreciate it as it mingled with the raw fish in my mouth.

We decided that this experience was going to be a tour de force, and to all order huge dishes. It was the holidays, our gym memberships were to be renewed in the next 3 weeks, and those who were fortunate enough to get holiday bonuses were itching to spend them, as there were only 2 days before Christmas and most of the shopping had been done. The "snacks" section of the menu offered several appetizers, and we ate them all. The stuffed mushroom and rice croquette were particularly noteworthy, until the rolls arrive. The "Italian Onigiri" was something along the lines of a dream, sun-dried tomato and olives, food from my adopted country, transformed into a Japanese delicacy. Then came the Guacamole Roll. Forget about chips and dip, something about this roll made you think of silk and butter. I can almost describe it as a all-emcompassing remedy to the bad food that has been shoved down my throat in the past. Then, as in every multi-faceted feast, came the clincher, pure culinary genius art. The eel-shiso and cucumber roll and boiled shrimp, tempura flake, and spicy mayo roll. I don't know how to describe them, but think of crunchy flakes with the perfect amount of flavor and disintegrate gracefully as you chew them. Once you start enjoying the taste, you are introduced to the tender filling. It actually gave me second thoughts about swallowing.

Then came the "bombs", which we're essentially chunks of sushi. I do not know why they call them this, nor was I able to distinguish them that well, apart from the una bomb, again, with eel, shiso mint leaf, and wasabi cream sauce. The spicy version had a tiny gob of that wonderful spicy mayo. I suggest the party bomb, that way you get to sample all of them. There was not one thing that we ordered that I did not think was exceptional.

Overall rating: 9.8 out of 10 (Exceptional)
Cost per person: $50 USD / wine included
Will I be going back?: Undoubtedly
Contact / Arrival Details: Bozu, 296 Grand Street between Havemeyer & Roebling, Brooklyn, NY 11211 USA, tel. 1 718 384 7770, web www.oibozu.com (take the L train to Lorimer Street, follow Metropolitan Avenue under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and make a left on to Havemeyer and a right onto Grand)