Luis Carlos Alvarez Zaragoza, a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and food influencer, recently claimed that two-star Michelin restaurant Sushi Noz serves smaller portions for ladies than men.
In a one-minute and 34-second TikTok clip, Zaragoza, who goes by @luiscarloszara on social media, posted his grievances over his sixth visit to Sushi Noz — his first for the reason that Upper East Side restaurant received its second Michelin star last fall — on Feb. 20.
“Sushi Noz in NYC, unfortunately not value a special trip anymore!!” Zaragoza captioned the viral clip, which has over 7 million views, adding that it was “actually essentially the most negative” visit to this point.
He alleged that his dining experience with the seasonal omakase menu, curated by Chef Nozomu Abe, began off badly — explaining that wine pairings were “disjointed” and delivered at “awkward” at times, leaving him disgruntled on the $700 per person meal.
But in response to his viral clip, the Latest York transplant’s dining experience only got worse.
“One other aspect we didn’t enjoy was our friend who was the one woman in our group who was told she can be getting smaller portions,” Zaragoza claimed.
Although shocked, the food lover explained, “We all know this can be a common practice in some places for omakase” — a choice reportedly based readily available sizes — “but she didn’t ask for it.”
And while food portions allegedly were larger for the boys, Zaragoza stated that the meal price remained the identical for all, despite the fact that one person’s portions weren’t as large.
“If the worth also hasn’t been adjusted to account for the smaller portions, then everyone should receive the identical amount,” he demanded.
When contacted by The Post, the restaurant’s publicist, Steven Hall, provided the next statement:
“The meal begins with 5 – 6 otsumami (small plates), which may be quite filling on their very own. Before the sushi section of the menu begins, the chef will often ask first-time guests in the event that they prefer smaller rice portions, a proposal which they’re greater than welcome to say no. This is finished out of consideration for the guest, to make sure that they’re able to enjoy the total progression of the omakase menu without becoming too full.
“In a conventional Japanese restaurant like ours, cultural and language barriers naturally result in misunderstandings on occasion — that being said, that is the primary time in six years that we’ve heard of those actions interpreted this manner, which couldn’t have been farther from the chef’s intentions,” he concluded.
The restaurant declined further comment.
When reached by The Post, Zaragoza backed up his assertions, saying he felt that “tradition” and “perpetuating negative attitudes towards gender” got here into play during their visit.
“It’s a nuanced issue because tradition is usually viewed as something to be preserved and revered, but we had to attract the road when someone in our group, the one woman, was given less,” he wrote, partly, in an email to The Post.
“We did our own research into this and experienced it in Japan as well, it’s a standard practice in omakase to serve woman patrons smaller portions. We then thought back to how we’ve never dined with a girl chef on the helm of an omakase. So when traditions seek to exclude, then it’s not likely about preservation nor respect, but fairly about keeping things the best way they’re, which frequently only advantages one group.”
“And this next part is admittedly why we won’t be back,” Zaragoza stated.
Zaragoza also found fault with another move by the restaurant. He claimed that when a male friend “politely” let the chef know the chuto Nigiri can be his last piece,
Thiago’s Chuto Nigiri was thrown out before he got to grab it.
He claimed his friend “politely” let the chef know that he didn’t need a final piece of nigiri sushi, expecting that his last piece can be passed to Zaragoza.
Nonetheless, before Zaragoza could reach for the piece, the chef “snatched it up before he could and threw it within the trash right in front of us,” he claimed.
“They told us this was done because a bit of Nigiri can’t sit out for greater than just a few seconds or it goes bad,” he said of their explanation.
“In fact, that’s just a extremely bad excuse. No piece of food goes to spoil in a matter of seconds.”
Zaragoza said his experience at Sushi Noz was his “first negative review in an extended time,” and now he desires to bring awareness to food waste in society.
“The mindfulness of how we devour food and what we waste is admittedly necessary, and to see food being snatched up like this and thrown within the trash was pretty shocking, so unfortunately Sushi Noz is unquestionably not well worth the special trip it once was,” Zaragoza concluded.
The food influencer’s review also startled many TikTokers online, who vowed to not dine on the establishment.
“Sushi noz- you don’t exist in my mind,” wrote one person. “They may never see me.”
“How incredibly unprofessional and sexist. For $700 per person, that’s WILD,” added one other.
“I’ve been on Michelin tok for every week and all I’ve learned is that I don’t wish to go to a Michelin star restaurant anymore,” revealed a watcher.
Meanwhile, some viewers were skeptical of Zaragoza’s review.
“Truthfully, paying $700 each for a meal goes against ‘mindfulness’ only a bit don’t ya think?” commented one jokester.
“[I] have a sense we’re not getting the entire story here,” wrote a dissenter. “I’ve been to Noz repeatedly, and that is wildly inconsistent with my experience (and that of many others I do know). So I even have a sense he will not be being straightforward about what really happened.”
