The Washington Post Magazine - USA (2022-05-08)

THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE 27

TOM SIETSEMADining

A sight for

sore eyes

and delicious

to taste

The distinctive dining room at Shoto in downtown Washington.

PHOTO: SCOTT SUCHMAN

Unrated during the

pandemic

Shoto

1100 15th St. NW.

(Entrance on L Street

NW.) 202-796-0011.

No website. Open:

Indoor dining 5 to

10:30 p.m. Monday

through Thursday, 5

to 11:30 p.m. Friday

and Saturday. Prices:

Sushi and sashimi

$12 to $28,

appetizers $7 to $29,

signature entrees

$34 to $48. Sound

check: 82 decibels/

Extremely loud.

Accessibility: The

front door is heavy,

but attendants assist

with opening it. A

seat at the bar and

two seats at the

chef’s counter are

designated for

wheelchair users.

Restrooms are ADA-

compliant. Pandemic

protocols: Staff

members are all

vaccinated and wear

masks.

T

here’s no bad seat at Shoto.”

So says Arman Naqi, the London-born, Bethesda-

raised founder and managing partner behind downtown

Washington’s new Japanese restaurant, the splashiest dining

room to open in the region during the pandemic and, since its

February debut, one of the most challenging to book. If you

like to dine at 5 p.m. or after 9, here’s the spot.

Naqi is right about the tables. No matter where you settle,

there’s something to hold your gaze. One visit, I’m looking up

at a constellation of hundreds of rocks taken from an active

volcano in Japan. Another night, I’m facing a wall crawling

with preserved ivy, a mass of greenery interspersed with a

dozen faux fires. The 25-foot ceiling pays homage to Japanese

basket weaving, and a perch at the chef’s counter gives you an

orchestra-seat view of the open kitchen, framed in ceramic

green tile molded on live bamboo in Bali. Naqi and his

partners, including London restaurateur and venture capitalist

Arjun Waney, the co-founder of the international Zuma brand,

sweat the small stuff. Check your coat and you get a heavy

brass tag with the restaurant’s logo.

Shoto is the work of the acclaimed Tokyo designer

Noriyoshi Muramatsu, who helped fulfill Naqi’s request: “We

wanted to give a transforming experience.”

Cooking included. Shoto stars two chefs, Alessio Conti, 31,

and Kwang Kim, a decade older. Conti, the executive chef, is an