Uzuki

Occupying the cozy mid-section of a warehouse in Greenpoint’s Japanese microneighborhood (also home to Acre and Dashi Okume), Uzuki focuses on pure buckwheat soba, and it's catnip for noodle heads and food nerds: we once sat next to someone who staged at Noma, and described their fermentation projects in microscopic detail. But Uzuki is also a good spot for gluten-free dates, or anyone who just wants a deluxe bowlful of nutty noodles under a big paper lantern, while cool jazz plays in the background.

photo credit: Sonal Shah

The bowls, like all the ceramic serving ware, are made by the chef himself, and that personal attention is evident throughout the meal. Start with a couple of small, buckwheat-y bites, like a piece of bitter, grilled soba miso, or sweet soba tofu, or vegetables in a sticky sesame paste with soba seeds. Pair them with some gluten-free soba beer, or sake in a misshapen ceramic carafe, which pours unevenly into your handmade sake cup, spilling a little.

The service is a little uneven too: it can take awhile for plates to be cleared or bills to be brought, and you may or may not get a top-up of soba-yu, noodle-boiling water, at the end of your bowl. Sit at the counter if you want a more engaged experience, but mostly, you'll be happy to be left alone to work through your large portion of noodles, plain or infused with matcha, in a variety of hot and cold preparations.

The splashier bowls include one topped with a boatload of sashimi ($72)—it's nice, but unless you really need a big pile of raw fish, stick to the somewhat more affordable options, like the $32 ume shiosoba with rich duck broth and some tart umeboshi on the side. As relaxed as Uzuki is, it isn't casually priced.

Once you've committed to the buckwheat bit, though, you might as well get the creamy soba ice cream, a breath-freshening shio sorbet, or some very fun to photograph soba cha kanten globes, drizzled with a malty syrup. And if you just want to dip your toes in, stop by Uzuki's Towari Bar, at the warehouse entrance. It's a wine and sake bar with a bunch of boardgames and snacky bites—several of which, unsurprisingly, contain soba in some form.