Masaki--anyone been?

Casting around for ideas for the Lovely Dining Companion's 50th birthday and I found this article about a "tiny" new place in Streeterville on "Tasting Table." To quote from their short piece:

"Rarely does a restaurant manage to mentally transport us.
Masaki, a miniscule new Japanese restaurant in Streeterville, achieves this feat.
There’s an unlikely name behind it: Mauro Mafrici, the chef and owner of Pelago, an Italian restaurant around the corner. His passion for Japanese cuisine is evident in Masaki’s eclectic, ambitious menu and its sleek, refined space.
This is Japanese fine dining of an uncommon sort. The entry-level, three-course omakase ($98) comprises nearly a dozen dishes, each course an artful composition of three or four plates. ...
Masaki offers five- and seven-course tasting menus, too ($134 and $178, respectively), and a substantial sake list. ..."

990 Mies Van Der Rohe Way
Phone (312) 280-9100
http://www.masakisushi.com

Sounds quite intriguing but I can't find much out and so wondered if anyone had been yet.

There was a short blurb about it in Red Eye today - they liked it. They touched on it and 4 other newish sushi places.

Some friends of mine went and were disappointed. The gist of the report was that the place was beautiful, but the food was not flavorful. I feel bad passing on hearsay, but no-one else has jumped in.

Had the 7-course dinner at Masaki recently and thought it was one of the most satisfying high-end meals I've had in Chicago in a long time. The service was great and the room is one of my new favorites in town. (The better half of the Pelago-Masaki team is a tremendously talented designer, in my view at least.) While the 7-course (all fish, all raw, pretty much) menu had one or 2 duds, an insipid monkfish nage for starters and rubbery tako, they were few and vastly outweighed by the quality of the produce and the presentation. Some Chicago (maybe US) high-water marks for me included the otoro and the uni. Also, important to me, the shoyu. I have seen some criticism of the rice, but there was virtually no rice in this meal, even under the few nigiri, where the rice ball tended to be very small in comparison to the fish. I would like to think a Japanese fish restaurant of this caliber is capable of producing outstanding rice, but I can't say for sure. A loose porridge of glutinous rice with shrimp innards was terrific, though.

Nice attention to detail - even the mignardises were great and cuisine-appropriate, mimicing the custardy, Portuguese sorts of things on hand in the Mitsuwa bakery. Others nearby had cooked foods from the other menus and it all looked swell. The wine list seemed interesting and appropriate, with lots of dry cold stuff, plus a large sake list. I drank beer and sochu, though. Not cheap, and lacking the kind of freedom of creativity of true omakases with its fixed menus, I still think Masaki is accomplishing what it sets out to do, admirably and early in its life. After flings with mirages like Matsumoto and Heat, or even steady performers like Katsu, Arami and Mizu (Matsumoto's current digs), Masaki stands out as a very serious, high end vision of "real" Japanese food. I liked it.

Looking now, I see that the only real pro review so far is from Sula who conveys a similar vibe about the place, I think.

Less than a month after Masaki restaurant earned a four-diamond rating from the AAA travel industry organization, owners Mauro and Kimberly Anguil Mafrici have sold the property to restaurateur Miae Lim, owner of Mirai sushi restaurant in Wicker Park and a former owner of Japonais.

Mr. Mafrici, chef and co-owner of the nearby Pelago Ristorante, said today that he closed Masaki yesterday and that Ms. Lim hopes to reopen it as another Mirai in March.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... uys-masaki

Closed? This is a collosal tragedy. The place was a gem, so intimate, beautiful and tasty food; we'd do the multi-course tasting menu. Phil Vittles, who I am not normally on the same page with, captured the experience perfectly. I can only hope an appropriate memorial will be planned.