The city is full of sushi joints but nothing quite like the latest to open in Little Italy. Vv Magazine’s Libby Roach gives us a peek at Amico Sushi.
Amico Sushi opened on College Street, right in the heart of Little Italy just a few months ago. Hard at work perfecting the delicate garnishes that dot each plate is sushi chef extraordinaire Gerald Jung (previously of Yuzu). Having had mastered the art of plating, Gerald uses precision cuts for not only his seafood fare but also for the trimmings – each plate comes dressed to the nines with no horrific fake green grass in sight or pickled ginger for that matter. The garnishes are fresh and playful and for the most part, seasonal to boot.
Amico’s room is a blend of tables, mostly banquettes and benches. On a large wall facing the open kitchen is a smattering of guests Polaroid pics – sort of a wall of fame for the pre-Insta set. The food is pretty Insta-worthy too, like the Sea Honey Salad ($13) which bucks the salad trend altogether by combining cabbage with noodles topped with mussels, scallops, shrimp, crispy tempura flakes with broccoli and peppers before being dressed in a honey butter.
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It’s an interesting dish visually, as is the Sashimi Salad ($10) which comes crowned with a generous portion of roe. The sashimi is saucy, cut more into chunks than strips and comes with a fiery kick courtesy of the spicy chili pepper sauce. Strawberries and cherry tomatoes, two components I would wager would be rather untimely for a sushi salad are actually stellar, adding another dimension texturally.
Clearly Gerald has played with his food before and he doesn’t play it safe, which again, works with the Sashimi Deluxe ($25), a platter of twenty-one pieces of sashimi artfully perched and arranged with flair and foresight – each layer adds more than just visual pleasantness, they’ve been carefully chosen and placed with skill – crispy leeks add a lovely crackle to the seared butterfish, and while green onions with salmon are a safe bet, the walnuts draped on the tuna is riskier, but it works.
The Amico sushi platter ($13) features an eight piece nigiri set of the chef’s daily picks, paired with standard California rolls, but again the plate boasts more than just pretty afterthoughts – here, the chef has arranged each detail to offset the rich and fatty texture of the fish resulting in a sushi platter unlike anywhere else in the city.
The drink menu is carefully curated as well. Classic cocktails like the Manhattan ($10) pair nicely with more intrepid blends like the Seoul Mule, their take on a Moscow. The Mojito ($9) goes down easy with any entrée, while the whiskey menu is on point for stiffer after dinner drinks.
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Eating at Amico is like a mini food adventure, you never know what to expect next. Japanese flavours merging seamlessly with Korean and Canadian influences, right in the heart of Little Italy.