Okaru opens in Roslyn – Newsday

The wait is over: chef Marc Spitzer, of Manhattan’s famed BondSt restaurant, has opened his long-awaited Long Island venture, Okaru, in Roslyn.

A swank, upscale lounge fronts an elegant, expansive dining room that embraces Japanese and Scandinavian design elements, and offers a vast menu of both sushi and hot dishes rooted in Eastern culinary tradition.

Set back on Old Northern Boulevard, Okaru is a partnership between Spitzer and Roslyn-based real estate developer Noam Shemel. Spitzer, a Plainview native, landed a plum sous chef position at BondSt more than two decades ago after stints at The Russian Tea Room and Le Cirque 2000. The hospitality brand that began in a NoHo town house on Bond Street briefly expanded to Mexico City and Miami, and most recently, replicated itself in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards.

Attention to detail is everything here: Miso is made in-house, the dashi from scratch. A seasonal Japanese squash soup ($16), complements a maitake mushroom soup ($17) with crispy leeks, both vegan. Nearly 90% of the menu is gluten-free, with most dressings made with Tamari soy. Everything at Okaru is meant to be eaten with chopsticks, from the crispy tofu panzanella salad ($20) to the kani salad ($32) — chock full of real crab and pickled wasabi dressing in lieu of spicy mayo. Not to be missed: The “original” tuna tarts ($28), paper-thin sheets of raw tuna draped over crisp gyoza wrappers, brushed with truffled ponzu and crowned with micro greens; oysters ($34) are dressed with ponzu, jalapeño and chili crisp.

“We’ve been doing these things for 24 years,” Spitzer said. But Okaru isn’t just a rehashing of BondSt’s playbook. “People always perceive us as a sushi spot, but probably 60-70% of what we do is hot food,” Spitzer said. While some of the favorites “will make appearances,” this is a different restaurant. Most fish is being flown in from Japan, but Spitzer plans to seasonally highlight local fish, like Montauk tuna.

For hot appetizers, a sake braised short rib ($32) is enhanced by a wasabi celery root puree, while lobster gyoza ($28) — a pretty dish garnished with vibrant pink edible flowers — is lobster-forward, the broth fragrant yet light. Chicken katsu buns ($18) are brined in buttermilk, and spicy crispy shrimp ($28) with a chili aioli, a BondSt riff, dots most tables. Entrées include miso Chilean sea bass ($48) served with rice cake, a black garlic and whiskey caramelized onion skirt steak ($46), and a grilled whole fish which will change seasonally. On a recent visit, it was branzino ($42), with charred Japanese eggplant, water spinach, pickled long pepper, and a yuzu shiso gremolata.

The sushi menu brings hand rolls including a Hokkaido scallop and uni ($22) and a baked blue crab ($16), while cut rolls include salmon kimchi ($16), yellowtail with smashed avocado and gochujang miso ($16), crunchy shrimp katsu ($22) with citrus coconut curry dipping sauce, and lobster tempura with brown butter ponzu ($28). The O.G. spicy tuna roll ($16), a pillowy flavor bomb crusted with black sesame seeds, is a standout. Sashimi and nigiri offerings are ample with six kinds of salmon, four types of yellowtail, plus indulgent options like uni, caviar, various toro cuts and Alaskan king crab. An eight-piece chef’s selection omakase runs $75.

Handcrafted cocktails ($20), include the saketini that BondSt is famous for, a cloudy lychee martini, and the yuzu spritz — made from prosecco, yuzu zest, elderflower liquor, and mint. In addition to a selection of beer and Japanese whiskey, Spitzer is working with a brewery in Japan on an exclusive house sake, which will be called — what else — Okaru.

Dessert ($16) brings whiskey bread pudding, kombucha pumpkin cheesecake and homemade mochi in a variety of flavors. Those looking for the infamous sea bass skewers from venerable BondSt Lounge can find them on the bar menu.

Vacant for nearly two decades, Okaru’s historic building was built in 1890; the original bay windows remain. Most recently used as the construction hub for Roslyn Landing, the renovation process was rife with challenges, but resulted in an impeccable two-story space with white oak floors and tables, reclaimed wood with live edges from upstate barns and farms, and a cool, Zen vibe full of locals. Multiple dining areas include a chef’s table, omakase and sushi bar, private dining rooms, and in warmer climes, an outdoor patio that will seat 30.

The traditional black and white Japanese prints that line the walls, as well as a mural that anchors the dining room, are by Dwight Hwang, and feature marine life such as octopus, snapper, and big eye tuna. A jellyfish-like chandelier crowns the stairs that lead up to the second floor bathrooms. Wood slats create airy separation between spaces; it’s all very soothing, modern, and visually stunning. Not one detail has been spared.

Okaru, 1401 Old Northern Blvd., Roslyn, okaruroslyn.com; Open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 p.m.

A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.