America's Great Restaurants

• Events & Offers
• Directions
• Website
• Reviews
• New York City

15 East

"With its modest size and stark décor, 15 East feels like that rare and exotic thing: a traditional Japanese-run restaurant. The proprietor, Marco Moreira, owner of the nearby Tocqueville, had the good sense to hire Masato Shimizu, a talented young sushi chef who formerly worked at Jewel Bako. Shimizu is a purist who cures his own gari (ginger) and produces high-class, no-frills sushi in the classic style. There are no tricked-out maki rolls on his menu, and no newfangled sushi items containing seared foie gras or Kobe beef. You can get seven varieties of silver fish on the à la carte menu, however, and an impeccable example of sayori (needlefish) with scallion. The anago (poached sea eel) is another specialty, and if you’re feeling flush, order the $75 “tuna flight,” consisting of five different cuts and grades of fresh bluefin, which the gregarious Shimizu will illustrate for you with a special tuna chart."  — Adam Platt. New York Times

  Michael Moreira always had an interest in Japanese cuisine and upon his arrival in New York from Brazil (1982) he actually trained as a sushi chef.  He started a Japanese catering company called Marco Polo Sushi Catering, and met his wife (Chef Jo-Ann Makovitzky) during this period.  The husband and wife team worked the catering together and soon opened their wildly succesful Tocqueville in 2000.  In 2006, they moved the restaurant to a larger space only a few doors west from their original location.  It was a natural move to replace the original Tocqueville with a Japanese concept and the addition of the highly talented Sushi Mater Chef (Masato Shimizu) gives them two great restaurants on the same block.  The combination of contemporary Japanese cuisine and traditional sushi has made 15 East a Manhattan favorite.