15 East.(15 East Restaurant)(Restaurant review)

There's barely time to settle in at 15 East's sushi counter before a fellow-diner leans over and whispers, "Did you follow him here, too?" The "him" is Masato Shimizu, formerly of Jewel Bako, thirty-two and improbably boyish, with a surfer's loungy demeanor. (One foodie Web site refers to him as "the cute one.") Where other gatekeepers of rarefied sushi tend to be dour and secretive, he keeps within reach an illustrated almanac of seafood ("Grunt fish? Page seventy-three") and a stack of what can only be described as fish-fetish magazines--complete with glossy, full-bleed centerfolds--which he hands to guests perplexed by unusual species.

Marco Moreira, the owner and executive chef of both 15 East and Tocqueville--which originally occupied this address and was recently relocated a few doors down--has recruited an all-star staff: the sake sommelier comes from Masa, the soba chef from Honmura An. (A dish of handmade noodles, topped with creamy uni, is so luxuriant that it feels almost immodest to eat it in front of strangers.) The sushi bar is a bright white cube; in the dining room, you are plunged into darkness. ...