New York City's Natsumi Tapas Covers Nearly Every Craving

We've all been there: the battle of figuring out what to eat. Burritos? Stir-fry? Pasta? Sushi? Barbecue? One of each? Luckily for us, more fusion restaurants are popping up in New York City. Natsumi Tapas is one of them.

Chef Haru Konagaya, formerly of Haru, and restauranteur Barbara Matsumura have come together to create a diverse menu featuring Japanese-Italian fare. Consulting Italian chef Andrea Tiberi helped develop Nastumi Tapas' Italian-inspired dishes, and sushi chef Hiroyuki Nagao, formerly of Nobu, brings the expertise on authentic Japanese cuisine. The result is a selection of pastas and pizzas that combines the flavors of Japanese and Italian food seamlessly.

The pastas combine flavors like green tea and capers in the gnocchi or a creamy fettuccini alfredo tossed with shrimp and a yuzu tobiko or a thin, breaded chicken katsu served over penne.

Moreover, there is an inventive selection of flatbreads unlike most you've seen before. Toppings range from spicy tuna caviar with avocado; and spicy blue crab with tobiko; to seared salmon with mozzarella; and green tea ricotta with arugula, grapes, tofu, oyster mushrooms, and truffle oil.

As for more traditional Japanese options, the extensive menu is broken up into raw bar, cold and hot tapas, meats, seafood, vegetables, special sushi rolls, and sashimi. House signature rolls pull from Japanese and Italian cuisines to create the squarano with tuna, salmon, kani, pepperoncini, and green tea aioli; and the doppio toro with salmon, yellowtail, and basil pesto.
 

Next time you find yourself craving sushi and pasta, or maybe pizza and teriyaki chicken, you know exactly where to go.

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