If you ever watched the original Iron Chef shows on the Food Network, you’d have seen Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, who did modern Japanese cuisine in that cook-off show. Awhile ago, he opened an eponymous restaurant in downtown Philadelphia. He’d worked at Nobu in New York as the executive chef, but this was his own baby. The restaurant is uber-chic, with a fantastic layout on the main floor. Lucite tables and benches delicately change colors throughout the evening. It’s subtle and tastefully done.

The food is seriously TO DIE FOR. The nouveau Japanese cuisine combined with eclectic dishes is well worth the need for reservations. The chef’s choice for sushi and sashimi is the best option if you’re into that style of food. I ate types of fish I’d had for years as well as items that only had Japanese names and I had no clue what they were. A great starter is their Cha-soba chilled green tea noodles with chopped scallion, fresh wasabi and dashi-shoyu sauce for dipping. They have Kobe beef too, though I think it’s only on the chef’s tasting menu.

Diane and I have been there twice now, both times with my parents. Below is a cell-phone picture Diane took of my folks during our second time at Morimotos. This was from December 27th, back in 2005.

Morimotos