New York Magazine – July 22, 2019

54 new york | july 22–august 4, 2019

the dish

Wagyu Pastrami Sando

Since the day it opened six years ago, the M.O. of Shalom Japan

has been to bring together on one harmonious plate the comfort-

food repertoires of two seemingly discordant cuisines: Ashkenazi

Jewish and Japanese. The upshot: quirky but elegant dishes like

matzoh-ball ramen, mochi blintzes, and okonomiyaki topped with

corned lamb tongue and sauerkraut. Still, one might say that no

Jewish-Japanese fusion joint is complete without a take on the pas-

trami sandwich, and now SJ’s married co-chefs, Aaron Israel and

Sawako Okochi, have filled that gap. Inspired by a smoker their

friend Patti Jackson gave them after she closed her restaurant Dela-

ware and Hudson, the couple got to work and came up with the

Wagyu Pastrami Sando—a minimalist mouth-

waterer of hand-carved brisket on Japanese-style

milk bread made with caraway seeds in the

dough. The result is even better than it sounds:

like Katz’s meets (a Tokyo) 7-Eleven, with a dill

pickle on the side. r.r. & r.p.

scratchpad

A multistar setting plus multistar food

all adds up to an impressive 88

in the Thousand Best ranking system.

bites

IDEAL MEAL: Razor clams, scallops,

head-on red prawns, fluke and/or octopus

with mozzarella, longevity noodles, sea bass

en croûte, cherry Pavlova. NOTE: The wine

list is stocked with a number of predictably

well-chosen whites from Burgundy,

Bordeaux, and the U.S., but if you’re in the

mood for a refreshing fusion summer

cocktail, the shiso gin-and-tonic is the one

to try. OPEN: Dinner daily; lunch Monday to

Friday; Sunday brunch. PRICES: Appetizers,

$15 to $19; entrées, $22 to $48.

PHOTOGRAPH: MARVIN ORELLANA

On the menu at

Shalom Japan, 310 S.

4th St., at Rodney St.,

Williamsburg;

718-388-4012;

available Tuesday to

Thursday from 5:30 to

7 p.m. and at brunch;

$16

A nice shmear of

Gulden’s mustard for

tradition’s sake.

Housebaked shokupan

(Japanese milk bread) is

studded with caraway seeds

for a Jewish-rye effect.

Well-marbled

Wagyu brisket is

brined and smoked

in-house and

seasoned with black

pepper, coriander,

and nori.

tasted less like the exotic bouillabaisse- style
creation it was supposed to resemble than
a randomly well-stocked local chowder,
and a decoratively plated helping of
monkfish medallions (served over spinach
with strings of crispy potatoes) was over-
whelmed by the tart, salty taste of citrus
on the evening I ordered it. Lobster enthu-
siasts should get the lobster-rich, Canton-
ese-style longevity noodles instead of the
salty, slightly dried-out, much more pricey
lobster with spring peas, although you
can’t go wrong with the gourmet version
of fish and chips, and if you happen to
have $120 or so handy, the whole black sea
bass en croûte (expertly carved tableside
and served with the béarnaiselike, tomato-
tinged Choron sauce) is a thing of beauty.
If you’re one of those people, like me,
who can count on one hand the number of
decent seafood restaurants that have
opened around the city in the past decade
or so, you’ll be pleased to know that you
can get a pair of first-rate crispy fish tacos
at lunch, along with an invention that
Jean-Georges and his talented young
executive chef, Noah Poses, call a shrimp
burger, garnished with cucumbers, Srira-
cha mayo, and more shiso. For seafood
purists, there’s also a “simply cooked” sec-
tion of the menu filled with grilled special-
ties (lobster, halibut T-bones, the afore-
mentioned spot prawns) available for
lunch and dinner, and if you’re looking for
the ideal dessert to enjoy as the westerly
light fades over the Brooklyn waterfront
and the running lights blink on in the
boats out in the harbor, it would be the
cherry Pavlova, which is dressed in the
Jean-Georges style with a scoop of pista-
chio ice cream and a spoonful or two of
Champagne sabayon.

LSee The Thousand Best at grubstreet.com^
for 999 more great places to eat and drink.