Naked Sushi Coming to Minneapolis

By Dave Born

For $75 you get a night of champagne, sake, sushi and naked models. That is, you get champagne, sake and sushi SERVED ON naked models!

Nyotaimori, or “naked sushi,” is coming to Minneapolis. The event takes place at Temple Restaurant on March 8 from 7:30 to 10:30 pm.

Naked sushi nights have already been held in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, and Temple chef and owner Thom Pham is bringing it to Minneapolis.
Pham is, “taking ‘Spicy’ to a whole new level,” according to the restaurant’s website.

The site says that, “Now Temple continues in its pursuit of presenting sushi as a true form of ‘Art.’”

Nyotaimori literally means, “female body presentation,” but in addition to the six female models Temple will feature, there will also be two males.

A leaf or flower petal is placed on the skin, on which the sushi is placed on top.

According to http://www.japanfortheuninvited.com, the heat from the body lowers the temperature of the sushi, allowing the diner to focus on the taste and texture.

The models must be hairless and have perfect skin, Pham said. He said he hired more models than he’ll need, just in case one of them gets a pimple.

In addition, Pham said, they must learn to control their breathing so they don’t disturb their adornments.

Diners will not allowed to touch or talk to the models, he said.

“When people hear of the idea,they think naked and sushi, they think it’s sexual,” said Pham. “We do use a lot of flowers, banana leaf, bamboo leaf and stuff like that to dress them up.”

The origin of Nyotaimori is relatively unclear, other than it was first performed in Japan.

“Nyotaimori is associated, in legend at least, with Japanese organized crime, but solid facts on its origins are extraordinarily difficult to pin down,” wrote New York Times editor Eddie Lin.
Yunnan University sociologist Qian Ning believes, “it was once a fashion in the Japanese royal court to feast off a naked woman to reflect women’s humble social status in a certain period of history.”

Interesting fact: in the 2005 season of VH1’s “Surreal Life,” Adrianne Curry played a Nyotaimori while the other members of the house ate off of her.

Temple Restaurant is taking a total of 100 reservations, and as of Feb. 21 there were only a couple of spots left. Pham said he is planning future naked sushi nights, but then only parties of six or more can make reservations, and it’ll cost $150 per person.