Fire Shuts Down Michelin-Starred TriBeCa Sushi Spot

A Michelin-starred sushi restaurant in TriBeCa has been indefinitely shuttered after a fire last month.

The FDNY confirmed to Our Town Downtown that a blaze tore through the basement of Shion 69 Leonard—which is unsurprisingly located at 69 Leonard St.—at around 5 p.m. on Dec. 27. The news was first reported by the blog Eater.

Described as an all-hands fire, a total of 79 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the scene and had the situation under control within an hour. Nobody was injured, and the fire marshal is still investigating what caused the conflagration.

The fire occurred just before the restaurant’s acclaimed top chef, Shion Uino, departed the establishment named after him. In a Dec. 21 Instagram post, Ulino wrote that he would be “ending my service at Shion 69 Leonard Street on December 31st.”

“I would like to express my gratitude to all the customers, the staff, the fishmongers, and everyone else. I will post regarding my activities for next year,” Ulino added. “I want to renew my commitment and strive to improve myself...I sincerely appreciate your continued warm support.”

Uino does not appear to have made any permanent Instagram post regarding the fire, which occurred a few days later, in the weeks since.

Our Town Downtown visited Shion 69 Leonard on the afternoon of Jan. 7, where any remnants of the fire were not immediately evident; in fact, passerby unaware of the situation might assume that the restaurant was simply closed until evening time. The restaurant, which has received an “A” inspection grade from the city health authorities, still boasts the notice on its exterior window.

Nothing has changed in terms of online reservations being available at the restaurant post-fire, either, after Eater first noted that its registered Resy page–which the restaurant’s official website links to–was not offering any upcoming spots.

Shion 69 Leonard boasts one Michelin star, out of three In 2021, when Uino took over, the famed (former) New York Times food critic Peter Wells wrote a rave review of the eight-seat space: “Mr. Uino seems to have an intimate understanding of each aquatic species that enters his kitchen—its chemistry, its muscle structure—from the first plate of sashimi to the final piece of nigiri.”

The headline simply proclaimed that the sushi at 69 Leonard was “among New York City’s best.”

The restaurant also undeniably caters to the very wealthy, too, with meals going for over $400 per person.

Thus far, there is no indication that Uino’s departure–or the Dec. 27 fire–will change the direction of 69 Leonard St. Indeed, it had well-acclaimed sushi on offer before Uino’s arrival, when it was known as Shoji at 69 Leonard Street; Uino’s predecessor, Dan Wilcox, departed the city for warmer climes in California.

Uino became a culinary veteran while working under the head chef of a “near-mythic” sushi spot in Tokyo, as Wells put it, called Sushi Saito. The venue–known for the “tenderness of its braised abalone and octopus”– famously only allowed past customers and their friends to make reservations.

This eventually led the “Michelin Guide to Japan” to delist it, as it was reportedly deemed not truly accessible for the wider Japanese public.

There is no word on when the New York restaurant will reopen.