There are no slices of pizza, no excited chatter, no swarms of people walking off a garlicky dinner. Nor are there shots of espresso, glasses of wine, or cups of gelato. Numero is a serene Japanese oasis right smack in the heart of Little Italy and you would never know it.
The moment the four of us entered Numero we relaxed. Greeted by a Japanese Buddha, we sensed the peaceful atmosphere right away and knew we had stepped into something special. As we climbed the stairs we discovered what we thought was Numbero’s main feature: water. Neatly stacked in three refrigerators were the three premium waters: Numero 29, Numero 51 and Numero 76. Cool, we thought, premium natural spring water imported from Japan from the foothills of Mt. Fuji. Interesting. It was only after we met owner Daisuke Miura (like “dice”) who in turn gave us a tour of this modern, zen-like space did we realize Numbero is so much more than water. He introduced the tranquil massage room, the mineral footbaths, reflexology, acupuncture and, our favorite, the tea lounge. We relaxed in the lounge while Daisuke offered us samples of each of the three different types of water, which was so much better than we thought! By the end of the sampling we were all ready to join the VIP club and have cases delivered to our house every month! And, he treated us to a variety of Japanese tea that he prepared in front of us with traditional utensils, including the bamboo tea whisk.
And, as is our nature, we giggled with delight the whole time, wanting to savor every moment. We didn’t want to leave. I want to take a picture, one of us said towards the end of our visit. What do you want to take a picture of? Everything.
No comments:
Post a Comment