For years, a serious sushi night on the North Shore meant a drive. On Monday, October 5, that changes. HOSHI, the sushi bar and Japanese restaurant from Stellina Hospitality, opens at 34 Audrey Avenue in Oyster Bay, and everything about it, from the omakase counter to the wagyu list to the sake shelf, is built to make this village the place the rest of Long Island drives to.

The people behind it already know how to make Oyster Bay a destination. Stellina Hospitality runs Stellina Ristorante and L'Étoile on South Street, The Audrey a few doors up Audrey Avenue, The Bay Butcher, and Casa Stellina in Farmingdale. When we first reported on the plans for the old Stellina Bakery corner in September, HOSHI had no date and no menu. Now it has both, and the wait was worth it.

Three stars on two streets

Hoshi means “star” in Japanese. Stellina is “little star” in Italian, and L'Étoile is “the star” in French. That makes three restaurants named for the same thing in three languages, a short walk apart in one village, and HOSHI is the group's first Japanese kitchen. It is the newest star on the block, and it is aiming to be the brightest one on the North Shore.

The room is calm and quietly beautiful. Pale oak lines the sushi bar, where black chairs with woven seats face the counter. Across the dining room, a long upholstered banquette runs beneath a row of hanging scrolls painted in soft ink: bamboo, a stone lantern, a branch of plum blossom. Sit at the bar to watch the knives work, or settle into the dining room for the long version of the night.

The Chef's Omakase is the seat on Long Island to want

The headline is at the counter. The Chef's Omakase is a chef-selected sushi tasting served exclusively at the sushi bar, for parties of two to four, during all operating hours. Omakase means “I leave it to you,” and that is the whole idea: each piece is chosen by the chef and served in sequence, seasoned the way it should be eaten. No menu to study, no decisions to make. Just the best of what came in, one piece at a time.

There is one rule, and it matters this week. Omakase reservations are required at least 24 hours in advance, so if you want to be among the first to sit at that counter, the time to book is now, through the omakase page. Mention any allergies or dietary restrictions when you book so the chef can plan around them.

A menu built for the trip

The cold side of the menu sets the tone: O Toro Tataki with crispy parsnips and fresh truffle, A5 Wagyu Tataki seared with truffle soy, Tuna Sashimi Dumplings folding tuna and spicy lobster under tobiko and gold leaf, and live scallops with caviar and spicy ponzu. Caviar can be added to any of them. Then comes crispy rice topped with spicy tuna, king crab or Japanese wagyu with fresh truffle, and sushi tacos stacked with lobster, softshell crab or a mix of tuna, salmon and yellowtail.

The rolls are where HOSHI claims the neighborhood. The luxury list carries six of them, each named for the place around it: the Sagamore, topped with bluefin, toro, caviar and gold leaf; the Roosevelt, built on softshell crab and shrimp tempura; The Cove, crowned with king salmon and salmon roe; The Bay, finished with Maine lobster; the North Shore, topped with seared Kobe beef and fresh truffle; and the Harbor, piled with Alaskan king crab and caviar. Teddy Roosevelt's summer White House sits a few miles up the road, and now it has a roll.

For the purist, there is toro in three grades, king salmon, shima aji, kinmedai, sweet shrimp, and uni from both California and Japan, by the piece or as sashimi, plus chirashi and generous sushi and sashimi platters, including one built for two.

Wagyu worth crossing the county for

Beyond the sushi bar, the kitchen runs a signature wagyu menu of American and Japanese cuts, from sirloin and filet to ribeye, with sauces like black garlic demi, truffle ponzu and yuzu pepper. For the table that cannot decide, there are chef's tasting flights, and the one everyone will be talking about is Japanese vs. American Wagyu, the two side by side on one plate.

The rest of the kitchen covers real ground: a Hoshi Wagyu Shoyu Ramen, sea bass with glazed maitake, duck leg and breast with grilled lychee and lavender demi, wagyu curry short rib, gyoza and sticky pork ribs. This is a place where one person can do a full omakase while the next orders ramen and the third goes straight for the wagyu, and everyone leaves happy.

Sake from crisp to cloudy

The bar is built around sake, with ten bottles running from light and crisp to creamy nigori, among them Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai and Yuki Tora “Snow Tiger” Nigori. Five house cocktails lean Japanese: the Mount Fuji Martini blends Haku vodka with nigori sake, the Ume Fashioned brings umeshu and shiso to a bourbon old fashioned, and the Hibana finishes tequila, mango and grapefruit soda with a togarashi rim. There is Japanese whisky from Hibiki, Yamazaki and Hakushu, Sapporo and Kyoto IPA on the beer list, and wine by the glass and the bottle, with Veuve Clicquot and Laurent-Perrier among the Champagnes.

The North Shore's new reason to drive

HOSHI opens at noon every day of the week, serving until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, so lunch at the counter is as real an option as a late dinner. The restaurant notes that hours will settle with the season once it has been open a few months. For the big nights, HOSHI is available for full restaurant buyouts, from milestone birthdays and rehearsal dinners to corporate dinners and holiday gatherings, and parties of eight or more are handled as private bookings through the private events page.

Oyster Bay has spent the last few years turning South Street and Audrey Avenue into a genuine restaurant row. On Monday it adds the piece it never had: a sushi bar ambitious enough to pull diners from Great Neck, Huntington, the Hamptons and the city. Book the counter, take the train or make the drive, and see what the North Shore has been missing.

If you go

Hours and menus can change, so confirm directly with the restaurant before you go.