The Rose Center for Earth and Space and its Hayden Sphere, seen from 81st Street.

Samurai of Sushi
No doubt about it, New York's Sushi Yasuda has quickly struck a chord with sushi lovers. The minimalist and serene restaurant received three stars from New York Times food critic William Grimes, an honor that many restaurants only dream about. Martha Stewart and Annie Leibowitz are fans, and Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, renowned chef and proprietor of the popular Nobu (New York's most acclaimed Japanese fusion restaurant) added it to his list of dining stops. This spring, Sushi Yasuda ranked first on the list of Travel & Leisure's picks for "America's Best Sushi."

What's the secret to instant restaurant success in New York City, where the biz is so tough that many new restaurants close shop within their first year? A behind–the–scenes look at Sushi Yasuda's story reveals that there's no easy recipe. In fact, the making of Sushi Yasuda took an incredible amount of hard work, determination, faith and patience. Okay, about a million bucks too, but the owners (who didn't dip into outside pockets) have already recovered half of that in just a year and a half.

Still, the restaurant's proprietors, chef Naomichi Yasuda, Shige Akimoto and Scott Rosenberg, aren't in it for the money. It's all about the food. The quality is outstanding, and you can get things here that you won't find elsewhere. The menu changes daily based on what's available, but Yasuda is a tuna specialist and usually offers eight tuna options (different types of tuna and different "fattiness" levels). He also offers items like seki–saba, a rare mackerel from Japan, and mato–dai, a special kind of snapper from the Japanese Sea. The list goes on.

Not only does Yasuda select and prepare the finest fresh fish available, he looks at the customer's mouth and makes sushi pieces that are just the right fit (no lie). He'll also subtly inquire about a customer's sushi experience and offer suggestions that match the patron's mood. The result? Beautiful and delicious "custom" sushi that melts in your mouth.

Under the Hayden Sphere, where musicians put on a free show every Friday evening.

I savor perfect pieces of white salmon and arctic char (both new tastes for me) carefully placed on a clean, fresh, Hawaiian ti (pronounced "tea") leaf. Each piece of sushi is easy to eat in a single bite, and nothing is pre–sliced or pre–shelled, as is the norm at many sushi restaurants.

The goal at Sushi Yasuda is not to turn over as many tables as possible during the lunch and dinner runs. "We didn't want a hotspot," says Rosenberg. "We wanted a contemplative, almost meditative place where you can really experience sushi. We could easily seat 15 to 20 more people, but we thought about Yasuda's capacity."

As I watch Yasuda perform his art at the sushi bar he himself built, I realize that this is definitely not the typical, Americanized sushi joint. At five feet, six inches, Yasuda is like a Samurai warrior: He's magic with a knife, works out daily and is a martial arts expert. He's also a perfectionist. "I strive for perfection, but it's very difficult to find," he says. But with his warrior–chef mystique comes a modest and friendly smile, a great sense of humor and a desire to educate sushi lovers (even new ones) who are interested in the craft.

I can see why Grimes awarded this place three stars. Besides the great product, you simply feel comfortable here. Yasuda's reaction to the Grimes review? "It's all right. We were just beginning," he says. Toward the end of our conversation, Yasuda reminds me of what I think the team's secret ingredient is. "This is my happiest time, because I can make sushi," he says. "It's not the amount of money [we make]—it's inside, being satisfied."

Sushi Yasuda is located at 204 East 43rd St. in New York City. Lunch is served Monday through Friday; dinner, Monday through Saturday. Closed on Sunday. Reservations recommended. To watch the art of Yasuda's sushi making, consider a seat at the sushi bar. 212–972–1001.

Cosmic Thing

I sit back in my chair, hold on to the armrests and feel that giddy sensation you get when you're about to do something exciting for the first time. As the engines roar and the smoke swirls, my body absorbs the vibrations of "liftoff." Soon, the wonders of the galaxy surround me, and I'm in awe.

All right, so I'm not in a real NASA spacecraft. This seems like the next best thing. I'm participating in the Passport to the Universe show in New York City's new Hayden Planetarium, part of the $210 million Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History. I say "participating in" because even though I'm just sitting in a comfy theater chair and looking up at a 38–foot–high dome screen, it feels as if I am flying away from Earth and through space. I soar through a breathtaking digital galaxy filled with stars, planets and moons. There's more, but I don't want to give the whole movie (narrated by Tom Hanks) away.

From outside at Central Park West and 81st, the seven–story Rose Center is architecturally stunning—it's literally a giant cube of glass through which you see the seemingly suspended, 87–foot–diameter Hayden Sphere. The 429–seat Space Theater where Passport is shown is housed in the upper half of this sphere. A customized, one–of–a–kind Zeiss Mark IX Star Projector (the most advanced in the world) and seven–projector Digital Dome System deliver the show. The virtual universe I fly through is based on actual NASA astronomical observations and computer models of our galaxy, including those from the Hubble Space Telescope. At between $11.50 and $19 a ticket, which includes admission to the entire museum, seeing Passport is a lot cheaper and easier than going to flight school.

The Rose Center houses the best in mind–bending phenomena, including the Big Bang Theater and the Cosmic Pathway. The latter displays a single human hair, the thickness of which represents the relative duration of human history, from cave paintings to modern day.

Talk about perspective. Somehow the Big Apple doesn't seem quite so large.

A major new exhibit, The Genomic Revolution, just opened and will run through the end of the year. It's the most comprehensive genomics exhibit to date. Information about the exhibit, the Rose Center and the entire museum can be found at www.amnh.org or by calling 212–769–5100.