The New Must-Have Food Accessory: Sushi Concierge

Maybe you, too, thought you knew how to order great sushi: Pull up to the bar with your friend (and his unlimited credit card), mutter the word "omakase," and unleash the magic of putting yourself in the chef's hands.

Here's another way. I went to lunch at 15 East recently with writer Trevor Corson to catch up and talk fish (we went to the same high school, and Trevor's the author of two great books on seafood: The Secret Life of Lobsters, and The Zen of Fish). Trevor chatted up the chef in full-on Japanese (he spent several years in the country) and learned some surprising news: "he asked us not to order the sushi," Trevor reported. The chef felt his time and palate were both too limited during the busy, shorter-menu lunch to really show off. He asked us to come back at night, when the broader fish selection would allow him to put on a proper omakase show. Instead we ordered a tart mountain yam salad, the famous octopus and a few other tasty, sushi-free starters.

Now Trevor is providing this service for hire. You, too, can have a sushi whiz talk you out of ordering any sushi.

I'm only kidding. Trevor is perhaps the country's first sushi concierge (www.sushiconcierge.com). For a reasonable fee, not only will he chat with the chef and find out what's good, but he can also show you how to eat your nigiri properly (dipping it fish-first into the wasabi-free soy sauce then downing it in one bite), fill you in on the history and biology of the seafood, and make funny jokes about lobsters in their boudoirs. You don't have to live in NYC, either - for a slightly larger fee, he's willing to travel.