For three nights in November, New Yorkers will get a shot at tasting the work of a chef whose Tokyo restaurant is nearly impossible to book under any circumstances. Takashi Saito, the sushi master behind Tokyo's members-only Sushi Saito, is set to take over the Hinoki Counter at Sushi Noz on Manhattan's Upper East Side from November 5 through 7, with tickets running $1,200 to $1,800 per person.
The residency marks Saito and his team's first collaboration dinner in the United States, according to Sushi Noz. As reported by Time Out, the event comes together as part of Sushi Noz's 2026 Japan Series, and reservations are being handled through Sushi Noz's own booking platform, with a waitlist expected to form once seats sell out. Sushi Saito and Sushi Noz both specialize in Edomae sushi, a style that emphasizes meticulous preparation and seasoning of fish and rice rather than reliance on heavy sauces or garnishes, per the same account.
Why Sushi Saito Is So Hard to Get Into
Saito's Tokyo restaurant previously held three Michelin stars, but it shifted away from accepting public reservations, a move that makes the restaurant exceptionally difficult to access for anyone outside its established clientele, the Time Out report notes. That shift had consequences: in November 2019, the Michelin Guide removed Sushi Saito, along with the equally storied Sukiyabashi Jiro, from its 2020 Tokyo edition, and the guide was explicit that the omission reflected booking accessibility rather than any decline in food quality, according to a report cited by restaurantonline.co.uk.
Today, Sushi Saito operates as a members-only restaurant in Tokyo, per Time Out, seating only eight guests per sitting across two seatings a night at its Roppongi counter, according to Restaurants for Kings. The counter adheres to the Japanese tradition of “Ichigensan okotowari,” or “no first-time customers,” meaning new diners are expected to be personally introduced by an existing regular rather than simply calling for a table, as explained in a report referencing Reporter Gourmet. That cultural barrier is part of why a publicly bookable Saito dinner in New York is drawing attention well beyond the usual fine-dining circles.
Inside the Three-Night Hinoki Counter Takeover
Over the three nights, Saito will personally serve six seatings at Sushi Noz's Hinoki Counter, with seatings each evening at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., per Time Out. The counter itself is carved from a single 200-year-old piece of hinoki wood and sits in a room lined with a dozen types of cedar, the outlet reports. Sushi Noz earned its first Michelin star in 2019 and was elevated to two stars in 2023 under founding chef Nozomu Abe, who moved to New York in 2007 before opening the restaurant in 2018 to practice traditional Edomae technique, according to the MICHELIN Guide.
Diners who can't snag a Hinoki Counter seat have a second option: Hiroshi Ishikawa, who leads the private room at Sushi Saito in Tokyo, will serve the identical menu in Sushi Noz's six-seat Ash Room at 5:45 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. sittings, Time Out reports. That room's counter is built from Tamo Ash, a rare Japanese timber historically reserved for royalty, according to Sushi Noz. The residency menu itself has not been detailed in the announcement, though a limited-edition wine and sake pairing will be offered as an add-on, per Time Out. Sushi Noz has also made clear it cannot accommodate dietary restrictions or menu modifications for the event, corkage is prohibited, and all ticket sales are final and nonrefundable.
A Four-Figure Dinner in a Four-Figure Market
The $1,200-to-$1,800 price tag is more than double Sushi Noz's standard Hinoki Counter omakase, which was running $550 per person as of mid-2026, according to The Malaysian Reserve. The residency's pricing also lands squarely within New York's fast-escalating luxury sushi market: in March 2026, Masa Takayama's three-Michelin-starred Masa raised its extended omakase to $1,200 per person before tax, tip or drinks, according to The Lo Times, a figure that itself topped Masa's previous $950 benchmark.
Saito isn't entirely new to operating outside Tokyo. He opened his first international branch, Sushi Saito Hong Kong, inside the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong in 2018; it earned two Michelin stars in 2019 and held one star as of the 2024 guide, according to Four Seasons. The Hong Kong outpost flies in seasonal seafood daily from Tokyo's Toyosu Market to replicate the Tokyo experience, per the same release — though how, or whether, the New York residency will match that level of sourcing has not been addressed in the announcement.
The Saito residency also isn't Sushi Noz's first guest-chef booking this year. The restaurant's Japan Series previously brought in Chef Kotaro Asakura of Tokyo's Ginza Komon in January and Chef Mei Kogo of Tokyo's Sushi Meino in July, part of an ongoing program that flies in acclaimed chefs from Japan for one- or two-night collaborative dinners. The group behind Sushi Noz has also been expanding beyond Japanese cuisine in Manhattan, having launched the bistro Chez Fifi on the Upper East Side, a bi-level spot with a ground-floor dining room and an upstairs cocktail lounge called Salon de Fifi l'Étage.
