Sushi with a young, fresh appeal

Malts and cheeseburgers had a long run as the preferred food of the young. That's so over. All you have to do is walk into Osushi to see the generational new wave. Tucked into a nook between the Westin Hotel and the Copley Place mall, this tiny place brims with youth. One evening we sit at the miniscule sushi bar, wedged against the wall, a good place to watch two young sushi chefs diligently rolling and chopping at a rapid pace.

Two boys talking of high school sit beside us, quickly riff through the menu, and order with aficionados' taste. Farther down, a clutch of customers who look to be in their early 20s trade notes on the wild aftermath of a recent party.

The room is packed with young Asian women, their shopping bags neatly stashed by their feet, and couples comparing notes as they nibble edamame squeezed from salty pods. This isn't your parents' malt shop. Instead, it's definitely a gathering place of young and cool, and toro (tuna belly) and godzilla maki, the successor to the burger of yore.

Osushi hits the right notes in mood and menu. The spare, gray-and-red interior is devoid of frills, stylish in a contemporary way. The seating consists of a few booths, a few tables, and a few high tables with stools, which seem to be the perch of choice for those who grew up eating around an '80s island in the kitchen. The service is friendly, despite a rushed feeling when the room is busy.

The menu is concise, too: Some appetizers and salads precede a long list of sushi and sashimi. There's nothing too far out in the list of maki rolls but no concessions, either, to those unschooled in the ways of sushi.

Obviously, owners Timothy Panagopoulos and Kenichi Iwoaka know their audience. The fish is fresh. The sushi is adroitly made so that the fish sits securely on the vinegared rice and doesn't crumble apart when grasped with chopsticks. The maki rolls are pretty and the flavors distinct.

One evening a companion and I start a seaweed salad served in a hollowed-out orange, its sesame oil dressing offset with sweetness and citrus acidity of orange segments. Tataki -- tuna flash-seared to have just a tiny crunch in the mouth -- has a melting quality to the flesh.

Executive chef Iwoaka, who previously was a sushi chef at the Ginza restaurants, is obviously picky about his fish. The toro is almost pearly pink with a texture so soft it's almost like foie gras on the tongue. Hamachi is fine and firm, and even salmon, the warhorse of seafood on the American table, has a lovely fresh taste. Saba, with its forward flavor and slightly oily texture, is a great accent point with other milder combinations.

Younger customers, one of the managers says, eat a lot of rolls while traditionalists gravitate toward sashimi or sushi. We do both, trying yellowtail hako, the fish spread on top of pressed rice and decorated with pretty curls of scallions, daikon radish, and thin slivers of jalapeno peppers.

Another hako preparation, which means the pressed rice and seafood are cut into pieces rather than being individually molded into sushi, uses freshwater eel in a mildly sweet brown sauce. The eel contrasts with avocado, its buttery taste a perfect counterfoil to the eel's sauce and the slight crackle of its skin.

Some rolls celebrate the textural. A godzilla roll is presumably named for the size of each piece, a big circle filled with pieces of deep-fried yellowtail, crabstick, avocado, and scallions. The roll's crunch rivals that of tempura with the fried yellowtail accented by tobiko, which gives off tiny bursts of salt when bitten into.

Not all rolls are raw, as evidenced by a TNT maki, with a sort of a meal in a bite -- baked salmon, lettuce, cucumber, and avocado. A garlic-infused burst of hot sesame oil adds an extra dimension. A spicy lobster roll features plenty of lobster in a chili-flecked sauce, lettuce, and cucumber as well as the crunch of tempura.

Osushi features a concise wine and beer list and an extensive selection of sakes. At the moment there are no desserts, although there are plans to add them as well as luncheon specials.

Expansion is part of the overall plan. The Osushi owners have started on another sushi bar in the 101 Arch St. building near Downtown Crossing, and it's set to open in May. Panagopoulos says eventually they plan more across the country. As sushi becomes a way of life for the young and not-so-young, it's easy to see that Osushi could multiply. Burger and fries -- make way for toro and a spicy lobster roll. We see the future, and it's on top of vinegared rice.

Restaurants reviewed by the Globe's regular critic, Alison Arnett, are rated on a scale of one to four stars, four being the highest. Star ratings are not used for compilation reviews or pieces by guest writers. Full restaurant reviews may be retrieved from Boston.com at www.boston.com/ae/food/restaurants. Vinalia 1/2 101 Arch St., Boston. 617-737-1777. Wine trumps the menu at this svelte new place near Downtown Crossing. The thin-crust pizzas are great as are some of the entrees. But the best aspects are the reasonable prices and the interesting wine list. (01/01/04)Masala Art 990 Great Plain Ave., Needham. 781-449-4050. The widely varied cuisines of India are spread like a banquet for diners. With stylish decor and a lively ambience, this restaurant is poised to catch the new interest in Indian food. (12/18/03)Union Bar and Grill 1357 Washington st., Boston. 617-423-0555. A chic hangout matched with good food calibrated to hit a wide swath of diners -- what more could a South End restaurant aim for? The service, the food, and the buzz mark a confident newcomer. (12/11/03)Bravo 1/2 Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. 617-369-3474. Pretty food in a stylish setting marks the latest redo of the Museum of Fine Arts' restaurant. More consistency in some of the dishes and more energy in the short evening hours might cause Bravo to blossom. (11/27/03)Dedo 69 Church St., Bay Village, Boston. 617-338-9999. Chef Michael Scelfo's simple but stylish New American fare enlivens this neighborhood spot. Duck in any guise -- from pate to grilled breast to confit -- is especially good. (11/20/03)Strega 94 Lafayette St., Salem. 978-741-0004. Italian cuisine and a playful witch theme mark a lively newcomer. The best dishes by chef Brian Counihan follow seasonal paths, with pumpkin risotto. (11/06/03)The Red House 1/2 98 Winthrop St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. 617-576-0605. Harvard Square seems the right place for a bustling restaurant in a refurbished private home built in 1804. Chef Mark Plourde is prolific, offering dozens of entrees each evening. A shorter menu and a more experienced staff might lift it above merely average. (10/23/03)Perdix 560 Tremont, Boston. 617-338-8070. This little restaurant is reborn in a larger South End space. Chef and co-owner Tim Partridge continues his appealing ways with New American cuisine. (10/16/03)Gatehouse Restaurant 4 Richmond Square, Providence. 401-521-9229. Tucked away from downtown Providence, this restaurant has a stunning interior and a view of the Seekonk River. With some New Orleans-inspired flavors, it's worth driving out of the way for. (10/9/03)Excelsior 272 Boylston St., Boston. 617-426-7878. Lydia Shire's wild and crazy Biba has morphed into Excelsior, luxurious and often excellent. But a bit of the edge has been tamed in this rendition. (9/25/03)Bricco 1/2 241 Hanover St., North End, Boston. 617-248-6800. Rustic Kitchen 200 Quincy Market, Faneuil Marketplace, Boston. 617-523-6334. Italian cuisine holds the trump card again. The former owners of Galleria Italiana shine at Bricco. At Rustic Kitchen, Bill Bradley brings his style to Quincy Market. (9/18/03)Great Bay Hotel Commonwealth, 500 Commonwealth Ave., Kenmore Square, Boston. 617-532-5300. Everything that swims might be the motto of this sleek new place. Chef Jeremy Sewall brings a California freshness to the best from local waters. (9/11/03)