Rosella – East Village sushi that never flew in from Tokyo

Rosella occupies a slim storefront on Avenue A, a short walk from Tompkins Square Park, built on an idea still rare in New York's sushi economy: almost nothing on the menu has flown in from Tokyo. Chefs Jeff Miller and Yoni Lang, both formerly of Uchiko in Austin, opened the restaurant with beverage partner TJ Provenzano at the tail end of 2020, building an à la carte sushi programme around domestic, sustainably caught fish rather than imported tuna and uni. The restaurant holds a selection in the MICHELIN Guide, and its sourcing discipline has since drawn attention well beyond the neighbourhood. The kitchen moves between recognisable sushi grammar and something more improvised: a ceviche built on scallop, mango and coconut milk, or nigiri cut from species most counters in the city would never touch. The room itself, warm and wood-lined rather than minimalist, sets the tone for a restaurant that treats sustainability as a working kitchen discipline rather than a line on the menu.

01The room and the setting

The dining room was designed by Anna Polonsky of Polonsky & Friends, the studio also behind Sweetgreen and Seed & Mill, built around a long wooden bar that keeps the cutting board at eye level. The restaurant was designed by Anna Polonsky of Polonsky & Friends, whose notable projects include Sweetgreen and Seed & Mill, and features a spanning wooden bar rather than the pale, hushed counters favoured by most serious sushi rooms in the city.

Visitors describe the space as lived-in rather than ceremonial. The wood-detailed East Village space is warm and lively, with servers offering tastes of unfamiliar wine and sake (some of it Brooklyn made) to help make up your mind. It is a deliberately different register from the hushed, blonde-wood omakase counters clustered elsewhere in Manhattan.

02The chef

Jeff Miller's interest in domestic fish predates Rosella by several years. His tenure at Dragonfly cemented his obsession. By 2017, he was in New York at (the now closed) Mayanoki, where he met his future business partner, TJ Provenzano. Miller, who grew up in California, used that post to build a reputation for avoiding overfished species before it became a selling point elsewhere. Miller, who grew up in California, is a pioneer: from 2017 to 2019, he was the chef at the first sustainable sushi restaurant in New York City, Mayanoki, now closed.

Insider tip

Open daily 5–10pm; book through Resy; closed to walk-ins at peak hours.

The partnership that runs Rosella today was sealed in the depths of the pandemic. In February 2020, they signed the lease on a new place, opening Rosella in October, working alongside co-chef Yoni Lang, another Uchiko Austin alumnus, before Miller and Provenzano returned to the same stretch of the East Village in 2023 to open a second, eight-seat room. Bar Miller's shrinky space opens on Wednesday, September 27, with just eight spots at the 250-square-foot interior's bar.

03The cooking

Rosella's own sourcing rule is unambiguous: every species on the menu must be cleared by Seafood Watch or NOAA before it is allowed near the counter, with a preference for inland farms running recirculating systems over offshore operations, and any offshore suppliers held to the highest sustainability ratings available. In practice that produces a sushi list built on unfamiliar geography rather than imported staples. Rosella, a sushi spot in the East Village, almost exclusively uses ingredients found within the United States. They dole out bigeye tuna from North Carolina, striper raised in Bushwick, and incredible fluke sashimi that was caught so close to Rosella it could have taken the afternoon train from Montauk.

That approach earned Rosella a place on Esquire's 2021 ranking of the best new restaurants in America, where critics singled out the kitchen's use of offcuts and shellfish. "Earth-friendly sushi is Rosella's calling card." The restaurant also keeps the supply chain close to home for its pantry staples, not only its proteins. Rosella is partnering with local farmers and purveyors to source as many domestic items as possible, including fish from the coasts of New York, Oregon, and Florida, rice vinegar from New Jersey, miso from Pennsylvania, and herbs and wine from Rooftop Reds in Brooklyn.

04What to order

A spring menu seen on the restaurant's own site in October 2026 opens with a ceviche of scallop, mango, coconut milk, lime and avocado, and a mushroom sashimi dressed with ramp pipérade, ponzu and quail egg. The crudo pesto plate pairs ikejime Atlantic salmon with pickled green strawberry and pea shoots, while among the hot dishes a slab of uni toast is built on sourdough from local bakery C&B, maitake duxelles and maple.

From the roll list, the bagels-on-hudson roll folds smoked trout, dill cream cheese, tamago and cucumber into a nod to the city's other great fish tradition, alongside a more straightforward spicy tuna roll finished with avocado, jalapeño and spicy mayo.

05The neighbourhood and booking

Rosella sits among the bars and restaurants that ring Tompkins Square Park, four blocks from Bar Miller, the smaller omakase room Miller and Provenzano opened in the old Mayanoki space. The two restaurants are less than four blocks apart in New York's East Village, on the vibrant streets ringing Tompkins Square Park. The restaurant's own site lists service seven days a week from 5pm to 10pm, with tables booked through Resy.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.