I had sushi delivered to my house… in Bed-Stuy. No, not from Fresh Direct (which was only possible once I moved down the street from my previous Bed-Stuy residence to a new zip code), but from a real brick-and-mortar sushi shop. Sushi Tatsu II on Dean St. and Franklin Ave. (technically Crown Heights, I guess), opened last December and offers mopeded delivery to my residence. There were rumors from a neighbor that there was going to be a sushi shop in our ‘hood, but I didn’t believe it until I made the trip, and picked up Tatsu’s menu. The place looked very inviting; clean, bright, roomy, and all smiles on the service staff (maybe because I was just picking up a menu).
The food review aside (special rolls were good, and the regular rolls were nice and fresh), the idea that a Manhattan-priced sushi shop is open in/around Bed-Stuy says a lot more to me about the unapologetically dynamic neighborhood than merely seeing more hip (read white) kids at the Franklin Avenue stop.
Is the neighborhood ready for this? Can this be sustained? “This” is admittedly vague. So I guess “this” means higher-priced consumption, not widely marketed, not a (large) chain. One resident has taken notice on a recent tasting trip, and another blog has prattled on about the shop. Are these critics just foodies needing a good place to munch on amongst the countless fast food chains, or is there something significant to a sit-down, bourgeois meal in a less-than-bourgeois ‘hood that is worth noting? Should it be that surprising?
One block in the opposite direction from my house is a Halal Chinese food “restaurant” complete with neon signs advertising No Pork in English and Arabic. Adaptation is certainly possible, but adaptation is usually to the existing residents. Is Sushi Tatsu II jumping the gun or merely giving the locals what they’ve been starved for all along? It’s hard to tell at this point. Selfishly (the same motivation for my move to, and continued stay in Bed-Stuy), I am excited to get tuna avocado rolls and Tommy’s Roll (sans-tobiko please) delivered to my underpriced brownstone dwelling. I just wonder if there’s enough of us out there to keep them open.
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