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Is Japanese the most fashionable food? Everyone seems to think so. Hadley Freeman wrote about the obsession fashion elite have with raw fish and its accompaniments for style.com:

"Food is colorful, it’s potentially expensive, and you can be a total snob about it—OF COURSE the fashionable are obsessed with it. Treating it in the only way they know how, they make it not about nutrition or health, but trends."

But they don’t ignore nutrition entirely. In fact, part of the reason sushi is so popular is that its figure friendly. And for the sartorialists that watch their waistlines to fit into the tightest ensembles, that is very important. Plus, there isn’t a dish that is cuter or that can out-chic any other than a plate of maki rolls and bold, clean chunks of colorful sashimi. 

And today, in the New York Times, Frank Bruni wrote about 2 affordable sushi restaurants that do not sacrifice flavor, freshness or (most importantly, in a prominent Dining profile) style.

If you take a look at the New York culinary landscape, the huge majority of trendy restaurants—from the standbys like Nobu to the newer ones, like Sushi Abraco—are Japanese or, at the very least, fusion and Asian-centric.

Wearing fashionable clothes is no longer enough. You must live a fashionable life, which may not begin with your gastronomical consumption but which is definitely included when all is considered. Gliding stylishly throughout life obviously would require the right restaurants and the right food. Is this a good thing—after all, trends come and go, so you might as well take Japanese food, with its nutritional benefits—or another concern that the fashion industry and its tastemakers are forcing upon us?

And one last question: where does take-out sushi rank on the chic scale? I guess it depends how pretty your apartment is…

Photo: NYT