Bugs (CLOSED)

Sho Boo, a Japanese-born Korean woman, busted into the male-dominated sushi world at Yasuda, later honing her fish-cutting skills at Jewel Bako. There the Sally Ride of New York's sushi scene gained a loyal following of aficionados (among them The Story of Sushi author Trevor Corson). But when she debuts her own restaurant this week, the focus will be on the Japanese small plates ippin ryori, not nigiri and maki. She will serve homestyle dishes, such as moroheiya okonomiyaki (a wild Japanese spinach pancake), chicken saikyo miso yaki (miso-marinated grilled chicken) and a shrimp and seaweed salad with a plum-tofu mousse dressing. But the toque won't completely give up on raw-fish plates and rolls, plugging them into nightly specials, like a shimeji and maitake mushroom sushi box. The spare 15-seat dining room—featuring mint green walls, hanging globe lights covered in straw weaving and a glass-covered bar encasing a colorful mosaic—shares a name with Boo's former Osaka bar.