Restaurant in New York City, United States
Deep-focus soba; book early, expect steep pricing.
A buckwheat-focused soba specialist in a Greenpoint warehouse, Uzuki holds a Michelin Plate and Pearl Recommended status for 2025. Chef Shuichi Kotani hand-cuts the noodles and throws the ceramics they arrive in — a fully integrated craft operation. At $$$$ pricing the spend is steep, but for serious soba in New York City, nothing else operates at this level of focus.
Uzuki earns its Michelin Plate and Pearl Recommended status on the strength of a genuinely specific offer: handmade soba in a Greenpoint warehouse, served in ceramics the chef threw himself. At $$$$ pricing, this is a commitment — but if buckwheat noodles made with craft and intention are what you are after in New York City, few rooms deliver this level of focus. Book it, but go in knowing the price point is steep and the experience rewards curiosity over speed.
There is a particular kind of restaurant that only works because one person decided to go very deep on a single thing. Uzuki is that restaurant. Chef Shuichi Kotani, originally from Japan's Hyōgo Prefecture, has built his operation around buckwheat: the sourcing, the milling, the hand-cutting, the teaching, and even the vessels the food arrives in. When a bowl of cold soba lands at your table, the ceramic it sits in was made in the same building. That coherence is unusual at any price point.
The space itself sets expectations clearly. This is an industrial corner of Greenpoint — factory windows, skylights, a warehouse footprint. It is not a hushed dining room dressed to signal luxury. If you are coming for ambient atmosphere and polished service choreography, consider odo or Noda instead. Uzuki's setting is functional, even austere, and it fits the ethos: the food and the craft are the point, not the room.
The menu is anchored in soba, with cold and hot preparations featuring hand-cut noodles built around dashi. The red tosaka salad , cucumber, tomatoes, and daikon in a yuzu dressing , leads the vegetable side of the menu, and the kitchen's gluten-free commitment runs throughout, making Uzuki a legitimate option for diners who typically struggle to find technically serious Japanese food that accommodates dietary restrictions. That is not a small thing in a city where gluten-free menus at this tier often feel like afterthoughts. For context on how other Japanese-leaning rooms in New York handle dietary specificity, Tsukimi and Chikarashi are worth comparing before you book.
On the question of whether Uzuki's food travels , whether takeout or off-premise dining is worth considering here , the honest answer is: probably not for the soba. Hand-cut noodles in dashi are among the most time-sensitive preparations in Japanese cooking. The texture and temperature that make cold soba worth eating at the $$$$ tier do not survive a delivery window. The ceramics, of course, do not travel at all. If you are weighing Uzuki against options like Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya for an off-premise occasion, Blue Ribbon's sushi format holds better in transit. Uzuki is specifically an in-room experience , the intersection of the handmade bowl, the hand-cut noodle, and the physical space is the product. Book a table or skip it; ordering in does not replicate what you are paying for.
The pottery and soba-making classes Kotani offers in the same warehouse space add a layer of context that is worth knowing about. They are not a footnote , they reveal the operating logic of Uzuki. This is not a restaurant that happens to have an interesting chef backstory. It is a craft practice that happens to serve dinner. For food-focused travelers who have eaten at soba specialists in Japan , or who have explored the work being done at places like Myojaku or Azabu Kadowaki in Tokyo , Uzuki will feel like a coherent continuation of that interest rather than a novelty. For diners new to soba as a serious culinary form, it is a strong entry point precisely because the format is legible and the kitchen does not over-complicate the presentation.
Booking is hard. With a Google rating of 4.5 across 234 reviews and both a Michelin Plate and Pearl Recommended designation for 2025, demand consistently outpaces availability. Plan several weeks ahead. There is no published booking method in the record, so check the restaurant directly for current reservation availability. Hours are not listed here , confirm before you go.
For the explorer-type diner who wants to understand what a single Japanese ingredient can do across an entire kitchen operation, Uzuki justifies the trip to Greenpoint and the $$$$ spend. For the diner primarily after a grand night out in a dressed room, the price-to-atmosphere ratio will feel off. That distinction is the decision. See our full New York City restaurants guide for how Uzuki sits within the broader dining picture, and our guides to New York City hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences for planning the full visit.
Address: 95 Guernsey St, Brooklyn, NY 11222. Booking difficulty is rated Hard , reserve well in advance. Hours and booking method are not confirmed in our current data; contact the restaurant directly. The kitchen offers a fully gluten-free menu, which is notable at this price tier. Soba and pottery classes are available in the same warehouse space for those who want more than a meal.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uzuki | Japanese | $$$$ | Chef Shuichi Kotani brings his passion for buckwheat to this industrial corner of Greenpoint. Born in the Hyōgo Prefecture, he works in a sprawling warehouse fit with factory windows and skylights. In addition to leading classes for making soba and pottery, the restaurant offers a gluten-free menu flush with noodles and vegetables. Start with the red tosaka salad with cucumber, tomatoes, and daikon radish tossed in a yuzu dressing. Cold and hot soba preparations feature plucky, hand-cut noodles with dashi, and each dish arrives in a ceramic bowl that the chef has made himself. Be advised that pricing is steep.; Pearl Recommended Restaurant (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Hard | — |
| Le Bernardin | French, Seafood | $$$$ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Atomix | Modern Korean, Korean | $$$$ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Eleven Madison Park | French, Vegan | $$$$ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Masa | Sushi, Japanese | $$$$ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Per Se | French, Contemporary | $$$$ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
How Uzuki stacks up against the competition.
Yes. A single-chef, focused soba format in a warehouse space suits solo diners well — there is no social performance required, and the counter-style experience lets you concentrate on the food. At $$$$, it is a considered solo splurge rather than a casual drop-in, so treat it as a deliberate meal rather than an impulse visit.
It works for the right kind of occasion: one where the person you are celebrating actually cares about craft and specificity over spectacle. Chef Shuichi Kotani's handmade soba and hand-thrown ceramic bowls make the meal feel considered, not just expensive. If your guest expects a traditional celebration format with wine lists and tableside theatre, look elsewhere.
Uzuki is built around buckwheat soba — gluten-free, handmade, served both cold and hot — so arrive knowing that is the format. The setting is an industrial Greenpoint warehouse with factory windows and skylights, not a conventional dining room. Booking is rated Hard, so reserve well in advance at 95 Guernsey St, Brooklyn. Pricing is steep for what is, at its core, a noodle restaurant.
The warehouse setting in Greenpoint signals relaxed rather than formal. Clean, put-together casual is appropriate — there is no indication of a dress code requirement. Overdressing for a soba restaurant would feel out of place here.
If a structured soba progression interests you, yes. The menu moves through cold and hot preparations using hand-cut noodles served in ceramics Chef Kotani has made himself, alongside dishes like the red tosaka salad with yuzu dressing. The Michelin Plate and Pearl Recommended status (2024 and 2025 respectively) confirm the quality is credible. If you want variety across proteins and courses, this focused format will feel limiting.
At $$$$, Uzuki is priced at the top end for a soba-focused restaurant, and the venue itself acknowledges that pricing is steep. What you are paying for is a high-craft, single-ingredient-focused meal from a chef who holds a Michelin Plate and Pearl Recommended recognition. If handmade soba and a singular dining concept justify that spend for you, it delivers. If you want broader value across multiple cuisines and formats, the price-to-range ratio will frustrate.
For Japanese dining at a similar or higher price point, Atomix in Manhattan offers a more elaborate multi-course Korean-Japanese format with stronger tasting-menu credentials. Masa is the ceiling for Japanese omakase in NYC if budget is no object. For something closer in spirit — focused, craft-driven, lower-profile — look at smaller Brooklyn Japanese spots, though none match Uzuki's specific soba-and-ceramics format. Eleven Madison Park, Le Bernardin, and Per Se are in the same price tier but are entirely different cuisines and formats.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
