New York - April 12, 2004

Sushi Mambo

Vela Restaurant Opens

Brazilian: Carnaval. Churrascaria. Thongs.
Japanese: Origami. Hello Kitty. Karaoke.

Together at the table? Sounds like a case of fusion gone awry.

Wrong: Sao Paulo is home to the largest community of Japanese outside the motherland and a source of some of the world’s best sushi.

Or so they tell us at Vela, the new Brazilian-Japanese restaurant that opens today in the Flatiron. Latino touches include tropical flowers, dark leather banquettes, and gold holographic wallpaper, while the predominantly Japanese menu is peppered with South American accents. Some Cliffs Notes: Have the signature wraps (fluke and caperberry, tuna and radish, salmon and hearts of palm) or small plates (Kobe beef shabu-shabu, spicy rock-shrimp tempura). For entrees, try the potato-crusted salmon in a sea-urchin sauce or the lobster served in a pineapple.

The bamboo and the waterfall at the entrance are Brazilian symbols of good luck and wealth.

No doubt they’re very Zen, too.

Vela, 55 West 21st Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues (212-675-8007).