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Sushi Ichimura Is Shutting Down [Updated]

The Tribeca restaurant will apparently shutter this summer

Ichimura behind his sushi bar in Tribeca.
Ichimura behind his counter in Tribeca.
Cole Wilson/Eater NY
Melissa McCart is the lead editor of the Northeast region with more than 20 years of experience as a reporter, critic, editor, and cookbook author.

After opening his namesake restaurant in 2023, the revered Eiji Ichimura is said to retire in mid-August and the 10-seat Sushi Ichimura (412 Greenwich Street, near Laight Street) will close permanently. The restaurant opened from Kuma Hospitality Group behind Tribeca’s one-Michelin-starred French Japanese fine dining restaurant l’Abeille.

The hospitality group’s owners, Rahul Saito and Howard Chang, said they’re announcing the news now “to give him a proper sendoff,” Saito said. “We want to be sure guests will have plenty of time to visit before he fully retires.”

Yet on his personal Instagram page, Ichimura denied that he was retiring this summer. It’s unclear whether the chef was aware that the restaurant was closing or if he had already decided not to renew his contract in August. “I will not retire. Who told you that? Because I am a senior?” Eater has attempted to contact Ichimura.

In response to his Instagram post, Saito and Chang said, “We had no intention of closing Sushi Ichimura. Chef Ichimura chose to retire from the restaurant to focus on personal matters. We’re closing this chapter for him and trying to allow his guests to send him off with as much notice as possible.”

Screenshot of Ichimura’s response to the announcement on Instagram.

His partners claim this is the last time the 71-year-old Ichimura will run his own restaurant, having been at the forefront of this style of high-end sushi for 50 years: the first decade in Japan and the last 40 years in New York.

Throughout his career, the master sushi chef has helped educate New Yorkers on what to expect from an edo-mae style of sushi that he learned in Tokyo. He previously ran his namesake under-the-radar restaurant on Second Avenue in Midtown; it closed in 2008. He then joined David Bouley’s acclaimed Brushstroke from 2012 to 2016. The chef left for an ill-fated turn running the eponymous sushi restaurant Ichimura with co-owner Idan Elkon; the venture ended abruptly within the year, and Ichimura sued the restaurant. Then, he went to what became the two-Michelin-starred Ichimura at Uchū. Ichimura also helped fine-tune the stateside practice of aging fish for modern diners.

“Ichimura was on the front line, whether intentionally or unintentionally, for ushering in a certain style,” said Saito, citing his coming into his own at the same time as Masayoshi Takayama of the super luxe three-Michelin-star Masa as well as Nobu Matsuhisa of Nobu, now an international chain. In the years following, high-dollar omakase counters have crowded the landscape, with noteworthy spots like two-Michelin-starred Sushi Noz and Sushi Sho; and the Michelin-starred Shion 69 Leonard as well as Sushi Nakazawa among them — and prices that have crept up almost as fast as new spots are opening.

Ichimura will likely continue to reside in New York while allowing himself time to visit family in Japan once he retires. Chang of Kuma Hospitality says the group will open a new restaurant in the Ichimura space.

Between now and August, the Tribeca menu will continue to incorporate fish from Hokkaido and elsewhere around Japan, along with wares from suppliers at the Toyosu Market, with many items otherwise unavailable in the United States. The approximately 20-course menu begins with seasonal appetizers followed by over 12 courses of aged nigiri sushi and temaki. Seasonal desserts served with tea round out the meal that’s often served on rare antique Japanese lacquerware, over 200-year-old ceramic plates, and plateware handmade by famous Japanese ceramicist Shiro Tsujimura. The luxe omakase lists on Resy at $950 for two before tip.

Update: March 26 at 10:19 a.m.: This article has been updated to include Kuma partners’ response to Ichimura’s Instagram post.

March 25 at 6:05 p.m.: This article has been updated to reflect Eiji Ichimura’s response to his partners’ announcing he is retiring.