orget questions about which fork to use for the salad, the Japanese have their own established dining etiquette rules. So it is no surprise that a proper soba house run by Jean-Georges Vonrichten (also one to enforce dining etiquette) have their own, in house soba instructor- surely a blessing to the fine dining clueless. He does exactly what you would think a soba instructor to do: he teaches you how to slurp. Don't be scared to bring your elderly grandfather prone to eating his soup noisily; with soba, it’s actually a recommended technique for the best flavor, (though beware of the decibel limit).

Taka Matsushita, as soba instructor extraordinaire, and one of the three brothers Matsushita who opened the new Matsugen with JGV, will hold your hand in this fine dining establishment. Designed by thomas juul-hansen (designer of Jean Georges' Perry Street), the space is sleek and minimal, complete with the requisite communal table and giant fish tank accounted for.

Having visited Japan and loving the Matsushita brothers hand rolled soba, JGV was always eager to collaborate. Eventually, he was able to bring them, and more importantly, their buckwheat grinding machine to the U.S. The noodles are made in house; the buckwheat is even transformed at the restaurant. Both the grains and the husks are ground together, contributing an earthy, chestnut flavor to the noodles, made to order up until 1:00am.

With all the accoutrements, one must reiterate- these are soba noodles, the food available for purchase at train stations all over Japan. It's not so much that serving simple food is offensive, simplicity is often a good thing, and the simple ingredients are often the most challenging to use well, but these noodles are served to guests sitting on Eames and Bertoia chairs. No doubt, part of the experience is eating at a JGV restaurant, and the food is certainly delicious, but this is pretty much glorified peasant food at nobility prices. With miso soup starting at $6, soba dishes start in the mid teens, the mains are far above that and go to $140 for prixe fixe (that's not even a tasting menu!) Like a version of iron chef, the focus on different versions of the same ingredient allows for mastery, but the show picks ingredients that are both tastier and more interesting than a buckwheat noodle. The restaurant serves other dishes too, but expect astronomical prices. Two Far East elements in this mechanical enterprise could pull you through: Fluke sashimi cured with konbu seaweed for $24 are glorified slices of house made bean curd, with seaweed salad; seared fatty blue fin tuna is $63, and the Kagoshima Wagyu beef rib eye runs for $135.