If you pull up a chair at the sushi bar in Toshio Suzuki's restaurant Sushi Zen—and you definitely should—be aware that your days of slumming it with California rolls from the deli will soon become a thing of the past. While many chefs think of their culinary creations as art, Suzuki, who quite nearly became a monk in Japan, adheres to the age-old philosophy of "food as medicine" for the body and soul. And it certainly tastes better than Dimetapp; not for nothing did Citysearch's Feedbag deem Suzuki the best sushi chef in New York City. The pioneering master opened Sushi Zen in Manhattan back in the early '80s, just as the exotic new cuisine was about to become an unstoppable trend.



