In early 2022, chef/owners Masa Ito and Kevin Kim, in conjunction with VCR Group, opened ITO Tribeca, their 16-seat omakase counter, where the fish is flown in daily from Japan, Wagyu beef and caviar are used with abandon, and the beverage program by Artur Silva (featuring some of the world’s most coveted premium whiskeys, sakes, and tequilas), is not to be missed.  Now, in a move touted by the Guide MICHELIN as “one of the most anticipated restaurants of 2024 from MICHELIN chefs,”  ITO Las Vegas has opened on the 67th floor of Fontainebleau Las Vegas along the curving back wall of the zhuzsy members-only Poodle Room behind a door so discrete that you’d miss it if you weren’t being led through it.

Recently, accompanied by my friend, Heather Harmon (Executive Director, Las Vegas Museum of Art), I went to see what all the fuss was about. I’ve gotta tell you, that fuss was wholly justified.  After being whisked up to the Poodle Room in one of its designated express elevators, and being led to ITO, your experience begins in the tiny four-seat vestibule-cum-Japanese whiskey bar (that also features premium sakes and tequilas), as you wait for your majordomo/steward/server to bring you into ITO.

Once inside the cosseted room, you and up to eleven other lucky guests sit at the counter, with its sweeping vista of the north side of the Valley, from Summerlin to Sunrise Mountain (on display thanks to the enormous plate glass windows filling the wall behind which the chefs prepare and present your dinner) for one of the two seatings (6PM and 8:45PM, nightly except for Sundays and Mondays), during which the talented culinary team led by executive chef Wilson Chan—who began his career in the Japanese culinary industry at the Michelin 3-starred Kikunoi in Kyoto, Japan; before moving to San Francisco, where he earned Michelin Bib Gourmand honors for two consecutive years as executive chef of Tsubasa Sushi— will totally tantalize your tastebuds with 19 courses of omakase deliciousness.

Unlike the typical omakase—which can be intimidating to some—the team at ITO is so unbelievably charming that simply describing this extraordinarily exquisite experience as ‘special’ would be a severe disservice.  For instance, choosing to zag where most omakase restaurants might zig, the musical accompaniment was a clever journey through R&B and hip hop from the Nineties and Noughties, including such OG tracks as People Everyday by Arrested Development (1992), Fu-Ge-La by Fugees (1995, Got Your Money by Ol’ Dirty Bastard feat. Kelis (1999), and Get Down by Nas (2003).

While everything was mind-blowingly savourable, a few of the courses stood out and merited being highlighted:

Course 1:  Taichiou – Beltfish (Chiba, Japan) with shiso, myoga, cucumber, seven spices peppers, and miso ponzu

Course 2:  Kanpachi – Amberjack (Kagoshima, Japan) with Dashi soy sauce and topped with seaweed, shishito pepper, dry kelp, and chives

Course 4:  Uni-Ikura Bowl – Sea Urchin (Hokkaido, Japan) with house-marinated Alaskan salmon eggs and Bulgarian golden osetra caviar on sushi rice [Full disclosure: I’m not an Uni fan, but the presentation was stunning, and Heather–who did not need to be asked twice to eat mine–assured me as to its deliciousness]

Course 10:  Aji – Horse Mackerel (Hyogo, Japan) with Nikiri soy sauce and ginger and chive paste

Course 12:  Ōtoro – Seared Fatty Tuna (Ehime, Japan) with Nikiri soy sauce

Course 13:  Kuruoma Ebi – Tiger Prawn (Okinawa, Japan) with Dashi Soy Sauce.

Course 16:  A-5 Wagyu Samuri – Wagyu Beef (Saitama, Japan) with Australian Winter Truffle and Garlic Soy Sauce

Course 17:  Toro Maki – Chopped Blue Fin Tuna roll (Ehime, Japan) with Pickle Daikon and chives

But my favorite course, hands-down, was Course 9, the Tokishirasu (Young Summer Salmon from Hokkaido, Japan) with Dashi soy sauce. 

What, you might ask (as I did), is young summer salmon?  Unlike ‘autumn’ salmon, which are born in Hokkaido’s rivers and then spend four years at sea before returning to spawn in the fall, Tokishirasu hail from Russia’s Amur River and are caught off the coast of Hokkaido on their way out to sea.  Whereas the autumn salmon, four years older and getting ready to spawn, are less fatty due to their nutrients going to their sex organs; the bodies of the younger Tokishirasu are far fattier and more tender, packed to the gills with nutrients.   All of which explains why this might well have been the most succulent nigiri I’ve ever tasted.

Heather succinctly summed up the ITO experience when, after we’d left and had taken a moment to reflect, she looked over at me, grinned, and said, “Wow.  Wow.  Wow.”

ITO Las Vegas
Fontainebleau Las Vegas
6PM and 8:45 PM | Tuesday through Saturday
$400/person (exclusive of beverages, tax, and gratuity)
Click HERE for info

Get into it!
#ITOLasVegas

[Editor's Note: * In Japanese, “saikō” (kanji: 最高) loosely translates to “most awesome,” "maximum," or "supreme."]