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About
KAI Restaurant
In Japanese, the word KAI signifies meeting or gathering.
Kaiseki cuisine traces its origins back five hundred
years to the temples of Kyoto, where delicate dishes
were served to accompany the tea ceremony. Today,
KAI restaurant embodies that definition and more.
At KAI, we are reinvigorating the tradition of kaiseki
with a modern spirit that celebrates the elemental
purity of traditional Japanese cuisine. KAI's menu
exemplifies a delicious harmony between flavors from
the land and sea, a subtle play of flavors enriched
by intriguing offerings of tea, wine, and sake. Hand-picked
dishware exemplary of Japan's pottery traditions turn
each dish into a visual feast. The KAI experience
is finally completed by a modern atmosphere that nevertheless
embodies traditional Japanese serenity.
This tiny inspired uptown Japanese makes a big impression
by keeping things on a small scale.
Kai specializes in kaiseki, a meal of tiny courses
traditionally served with tea. Attentive team of servers
circulates through the room pouring tea from iron
kettles.
The chefs create artfully plated dishes with an emphasis
on vegetables and seafood. Some of the lightest courses
include petite rolls of tea-smoked duck and featherweight
tastes of black soybeans, bamboo shoots and burdock.
More elaborate courses include a lovely purplish-red
sashimi of bonito over jasmine rice and roasted salt-encrusted
striped bass with tea leaves. Must try the granite
topped with shiso.
Press/News for Bottled Drinks
Time Magazine-September
1 ,2003
"... enlightenment has arrived in the form of
Teas' Tea, a line of unsweetened green teas from Ito
En. Its six flavors are brewed from loose tea leaves
and bottled in Japan."
By Lisa Takeuchi Cullen
New York Times-July
2, 2003
"Ito En has a new unsweetened but elegantly floral
blend of Chinese white and Japanese green tea, ready
to chill and drink. Called Green White..."
By Florence Fabricant
PRIVATE
PARTIES; PRIVATE ROOM; OFF-PREMISE CATERING;
RESERVATIONS
Suggested
CREDIT CARDS
Amex, Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club
HOURS
Open for Lunch and Dinner
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