Although it seems unlikely to find a magical little restaurant along the drab stretch of Sixth Avenue north of Bleecker, Sotohiro Kosugi (an F&W Best New Chef 1997) has created one. Served in an all-white dining room, Kosugi’s menu of always-surprising raw-fish dishes makes ample use of high-flavor ingredients like sea urchin, toro, shiso leaf and sweet miso.

We loved: Sea urchin wrapped in thinly sliced squid and shiso and served with a quail egg and a soy reduction; ginger-marinated geoduck clam salad with spicy radish sprouts.