Jiro Dreams Of Sushi Debuts At Lincoln Plaza | New York

We wouldn't be caught dead eating sushi sold in a New York subway station–or a gas station, bodega or drugstore.

In Japan, however, we would happily do so, and the striking new film Jiro Dreams of Sushi, premiering exclusively in New York beginning today, explains why.

The subject of the movie is 85-year-old Jiro Ono, arguably the world's greatest living sushi chef, who crafts sushi in a humble 10-seat sushi bar buried deep within Tokyo's Ginza station.

Ono worships at the altar of rice and fish, and the film's drama comes courtesy of sweeping views of the Tsukiji fish market, a Mozart-inflected score and the tension of Jiro's relationship with his two sons.

One of the central moments of Jiro Dreams of Sushi captures an apprentice as he talks of more than 200 failed attempts (and subsequent tearful success) of making egg (tamago) sushi. Feeling self-assured? Try your hand at cooking a Japanese omelet (click here for the recipe).

This recipe comes from 15 East, which has a double connection to the movie: It's one of director David Gelb's favorite New York sushi restaurants and its executive chef, Masato Shimizu, shares a sushi lineage with Jiro Ono.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi debuts today at the Lincoln Plaza (click here for show times) and IFC Center (click here for show times).