Masa Takayama and Larry Gagosian at the opening of Kappo Masa on October 7.
Photo: © 2014 Patrick McMullan Company, Inc.

Art world mega-dealer Larry Gagosian is pairing fine dining with fine art as he prepares for the Friday opening of Kappo Masa, his new Masa Takayama-run sushi restaurant (see “From Schnabel to Sashimi? Gagosian Opens Sushi Joint“). As reported by the New York Times, the new space takes over the lower level of the gallerist’s Madison Avenue location.

The restaurant has been in the works for quite some time, as Gagosian has long felt that the Upper East Side neighborhood was lacking in dining options. Nevertheless, Kappo Masa was not initially envisioned as a sushi joint. In 2012, Gagosian told Page 6 that Italian restaurant mini-chain Sant Ambroeus would be managing the space, and in 2013 he described a menu featuring two of his favorite foods, waffles and chili, to Interview magazine.

Now that Takayama is on board, however, things seem decidedly more high-end, with a menu the Times declares “vast yet seasonal and often luxurious.” The sashimi will be served on frozen blocks of glass, and white truffles and caviar will be common ingredients in the restaurant’s grilled, steamed, braised, and fried menu items.

While it all sounds delicious, it seems likely that the crowd of diners will be just as rarefied as Gagosian’s gallery clientele, if the average $450 per person average bill at Takayama’s popular Time Warner Center restaurant Masa, where Gagosian is a regular, is any indication.

UPDATE: PR representatives for the restaurant have informed artnet News that they anticipate that dinner for two will come in at about $200, not including beverages.