Word: nishly
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...chef hunkers over a circular cutting board, pushing a few small, rosy slices of raw lamb into a pile. Then Wayne Nish begins to chop until he's left with a mound of lamb tartar, which he molds into the shape of a bonbon and arranges on a square white plate, alongside an identical mound of tuna tartar. Between them he dribbles a cascade of osetra caviar, tiny shimmering globules the color of wet seaweed. Aside from a delicate sprig of cilantro, nothing else is on the plate...
None of the ingredients is discernibly Japanese. And few customers would guess that the presentation derives from a kaiseki concept involving twin peaks hugging a waterfall. "A diner might not recognize the Japanese influence," says Nish, surveying his work in the kitchen of March, his exclusive Manhattan restaurant. "But the influence is significant...
...concedes such extreme tampering with traditional recipes would be viewed as not quite kosher in Japan. But as Nish of March sees it, mixing and matching international cuisines is what Americans do best. Like many Americans, Nish himself is a mix. His ancestry happens to include Japanese (the name Nish is short for Nishimura, changed by his father to duck anti-Japanese sentiment). Growing up in Queens, Nish watched his father and his Maltese mother try to recreate dishes from home. "They always had to substitute ingredients," he recalls. "But that didn't mean the dish had less integrity...
Darwin is alive and well in Nish's recipes. On a Thursday evening in the gleaming basement kitchen, a worker dots a carpaccio of lobster that rests on a shiso leaf with dollops of mentaiko, or spicy cod roe, and uni, or sea urchin. "The first time I made that, I thought I'd sell a couple to Japanese customers," Nish says. "Instead, it's become one of my most popular dishes." Another worker shaves thin circles of black truffle to decorate a wedge of hamachi, or yellowtail, sizzling in a pan of duck fat and bacon morsels...
...every kid has Nathan's seemingly innate ability to budget his time. Many others are overwhelmed by the intense pressure, and that is when parents need to step in. Caitlin Nish, 17, of Westfield, N.J., baby-sits 2 hr. every day, tutors three students in math 3 to 6 hr. a week, plays sports, belongs to clubs and edits an award-winning high school newspaper. She does homework for 6 hr. till 1:30 a.m. "Sometimes I am about to break into tears," she says. "Just having my mother put her arm around me and say that...