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At many of NYC’s best sushi restaurants, $100 for a set menu or omakase experience is entry level, if that price tag even appears at all. It can be done: The most expensive item at teeny-tiny-terrific Sushi 35 West, one of 2021’s best new restaurants, is a 35-piece nigiri for $110, but this is far outside the norm for confirmed top spots. So $100 for entry and five-and-a-half hours of unlimited tastes at True World Foods Expo, billed as “New York’s largest sushi extravaganza,” seems like a relative steal.
On Sunday, September 18, the expo, “which aims to promote sushi culture and Japanese culinary culture” arrives in Chelsea’s Metropolitan Pavilion after a two-year pause. Guests can expect unending bites of yellowtail, sea bream, salmon, sea urchin (you’ll pay an extra $20, easy, for a dainty uni supplement at most places), and scallops, in addition to land-based samples like Wagyu beef. Wasabi, nori, fruit, sweets, teas and sake are also promised among the bounty. Organizers estimate that most visitors will stay for around 2-3 hours, which also tracks with how long you’d sit for a spendy reservation.
The day’s pièce de résistance is the scheduled 1:30pm (ish) slicing of a 400-lb bluefin tuna, sourced from Spain. Chefs from Blue Ribbon Sushi, Hatsuhana, Icca and Sushi Ryusei will turn it into enough toro, chūtoro, and akami to feed 600-700 people, according to event reps.
About 50 vendors will be in attendance, some also selling kitchen supplies at special prices. True World Foods is a New Jersey-based international food distributor. Less than half of 2,000 total tickets are still available here.