Boasting an outdoor patio that's almost comparable in size to the restaurant's indoor seating area, this Lincoln Park sushi restaurant serves up a swanky, sass-free ambiance. If you're bringing a crowd on a special occasion, opt for the inside, where a raised platform featuring a single, luxuriously large table is sectioned off behind slick, transparent curtains. There's also live jazz on Monday, karaoke every other Wednesday and DJs on Thursday, for the $5 martini-drinking crowd, but if that doesn't get you in, Tsuki offers delivery and takeout.

Slip slide into a Tsuki meal by tapping into the extensive list of libations. If you're not quite up for the $15 sake flight, sample options like "Purple Haze" (hot ozeki sake with framboise), Japanese vodka and exotic $10 martinis mixed with mango Asian pear or the chef's favorite, lychee juice.

Try not to get too sloshed on soju because the tempting array of nigiri sushi and sashimi will take a hearty bite out of your wallet. On top of the traditional cuts of fish, which range in cost form $2.50-$4.50 per piece, and rolls like ume shiso (shiso leaves with plum paste), seriously consider ordering at least one of Tsuki's specialty rolls. Innovative combinations like mango and pistachio will knock your sushi-loving socks off. Tsuki is also one of the few restaurant's in America to serve fugu (tiger blowfish) sashimi style, as a casserole or in hot sake. Diners who don't do raw will be pleased to find a full page of hot, cold, fried and soupy selections, from chicken meat ball skewers to pistachio-encrusted salmon.

Leave room for dessert; besides the standard green tea ice cream, which rarely disappoints, Tsuki offers mochi ice cream from Hawaii.

Centerstage Reviewer: Jessica Herman