Uni

Uni at 370A Commonwealth Avenue in Boston's Back Bay is chef Ken Oringer's intimate 40-seat izakaya, widely regarded as one of the finest Japanese-inspired restaurants in New England. Operating in a below-street-level space within the Eliot Hotel, Uni channels the focused energy of Tokyo's best izakayas — counter seating, an open kitchen, an exceptional selection of Japanese whisky and sake — while drawing on the full range of Oringer's culinary training to produce a menu that goes beyond traditional Japanese restaurant conventions. The omakase sashimi program, in which the kitchen selects and slices daily seafood arrivals based on peak quality, is the centerpiece of the menu and a showcase for sourcing relationships with Japanese fish markets and New England fishing boats simultaneously. The sea urchin preparations — both domestic and imported varieties of the crustacean from which the restaurant takes its name — are presented in multiple preparations that demonstrate the range of ways this complex ingredient can be treated. Japanese whisky receives the same level of curatorial care as the food, with a selection spanning Japanese distilleries and aged expressions that are rare or unavailable elsewhere in Massachusetts. The dining room's compressed size — 40 seats total, many at the bar counter — creates an intensity and intimacy that distinguishes Uni from larger, louder Japanese restaurants in Boston. Reservations are essential and fill quickly.