It's our third day in SoNo, and we're checking in at Match to discover what's most popular on their menu as part of our recurring feature, Bestsellers. Executive chef and co-owner Matt Storch says: "Seared wasabi tuna was probably the first thing I put on the menu. It's the ultimate number one seller." Turns out, it was 10 years ago that Storch developed the tuna app—and it's still going strong. "That one made it all the way through," he says. "And if I changed it, people would string me up and torch me." So we wanted to know, what makes this dish a crowd pleaser?
What it is: Lightly seared tuna dusted with wasabi and sesame seeds is the main attraction. Storch uses four ounces of grade number one ahi tuna. It's plated with a coconut sticky rice cake, a unique sweet soy sauce, avocado drizzle, spicy sriracha, and watercress. "I did want it to resemble having a piece of sushi," he says.
Weekly volume: 85 orders
Price: $14.95
Estimated annual gross: $66,079
Popularity decoder: "It's a good size—it's kind of between an appetizer and an entrée," he says. Also, Storch notes, it spans a whole slew of flavors and temperatures: sweet, sour, salty, spicy, crispy, soft, hot, and cold. "When you hit all those flavor sensations in someone's mouth they say, 'Mmm, that's pretty good.'"
