Tuna Tataki Salad
by Tomoyuki Kobaysaki
of Toku

For Salad:
1 Bag Mesculin Salad
1 Bunch Frisee
1 Haas Avocado, diced
1/2 Pint Cherry Tomatoes
1 Japanese Cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 Small Red Onion, sliced thin
1 Mango, diced
Combine ingredients and toss.

For Spicy Soy Vinaigrette:
3/4 cup Grapeseed Oil
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1 1/2 tsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp each Rice Vinegar, Fish Sauce, Sugar
1/3 tsp Sake
1 tsp Tobaujan
(Chinese Chili Paste)
Pinch of Black Sesame Seeds
Combine ingredients, stir until incorporated. Pour over salad.

For Saikyo Sauce:
3/4 cup Sake
3/4 cup Mirin (Sweet Sake Seasoning)
2 cup White Miso
1 1/4 cup Sugar
Water and Yuzu Juice

Heat Sake and Mirin
until boiling. Add Miso and stir. When smooth, add sugar just before removing from heat. At room temperature, add Water and Yuzu Juice to thin to desired consistency.

For Tuna:
1 lb Blue Fin Tuna Loin
Soy Sauce
Black and White Sesame Seeds
Grapeseed Oil

Drizzle Tuna with Soy Sauce to cover. Roll in Sesame Seeds. Sear in hot pan with Grapeseed Oil until crispy on the outside and raw inside. Slice 1-inch thick.

For Sesame Cilantro Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup Olive Oil
2 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp each Cilantro, Garlic, Chopped
Red Onion
Pinch of Black and White Sesame
Pinch Shichimi Pepper (Japanese Red Chili)
Combine ingredients, stir until incorporated.

Assembly:
Place dressed salad on one half of plate. On the other half, pour a coating of Saikyo sauce. Place Tuna on sauce, and drizzle Sesame Cilantro Vinaigrette on Tuna. Serve.

The Poll Brothers’ experience in the restaurant business began at Pappas of Sheepshead Bay, a famed Brooklyn seafood house their father James acquired in 1960. Gillis began working there as a busboy at age 12. His interest piqued only later as the field developed into more of a chic and creative industry, but his youthful exploration of New York’s boroughs has contributed invaluably to his knowledge of the hospitality industry. Gillis attended C.W. Post for business management and partnered with his brothers to open their first restaurant, Pappas, in Williston Park, when he was 27. Dean was 22 at the time and George only 17, making him a restaurant owner before he entered Boston University as a member of the School of Hospitality’s first graduating class.

Looking to expand their thriving business, the brothers opened Roslyn’s Bryant & Cooper Steak House in 1985. George and Gillis took the helm while Dean operated their first eatery, since renamed Riverbay. They parlayed the success of Bryant & Cooper into the addition of two Majors Steak Houses in Woodbury and East Meadow. Gillis and George then opened Cipollini in the Americana Manhasset, drawing on their personal knowledge of the area and its sophisticated clientele to develop the casual upscale trattoria.

When they were offered a second space in the complex, the brothers “gladly took advantage of the opportunity.” With Toku Modern Asian, they bring a chic blend of Asian cuisines made with techniques and ingredients from around the world to a warm yet modern space with its own unique character. Osaka-born Executive Chef Tomo Kobayashi brings with him years of training in both Japanese and French techniques to masterfully prepare and present each dish.

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