Ë®¹ûÅÉAV

The new village sushi restaurant, a years-long project of scrap metal billionaire influencer Adam Weitsman and partners, is a basement space wedged between Fennell Street and Skaneateles Creek.

No words, nor windows, await those who approach the restaurant's black door. It bears only a full-size illustration of a fish and its flamelike wake, both the color of raw tuna.Ìý

The Hidden Fish logo is similarly elusive, arranging what appears to be a maze from the letters of the restaurant's name.

Even the drink menu has a splash of mystery. Customers can begin their order by placing a Fortune Teller Miracle Fish, a thin piece of red cellophane, in their palm. The way the fish moves — its head, its tail, its whole body or not at all — reveals a quality about the holder, or so the children's party trick goes. Hidden Fish adds a step, assigning a drink to each quality that the holder can then enjoy.

The red fish idea was Weitsman's, said Jeff Knauss, one of three other partners in the restaurant along with Vinny and Noah Lobdell. Like all their ideas for Hidden Fish, the sense of discovery is by design.

Weitsman and Knauss began discussing a sushi restaurant as a "dream project" three years ago, Knauss told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV in December. Both travel frequently, and have dined at some of the country's best. When they saw the space at 7 Fennell St., a former doctor's office, they saw potential to give Skaneateles its own sushi destination in a setting that's "exclusive and really cool," Knauss said.

But what's most important for customers to discover at Hidden Fish when it opens in mid-January, Knauss continued, is the cuisine. It comes from Executive Chef Joseph Tran, whom the partners recruited through a national agency. They flew six finalists into Skaneateles for tasting interviews, and Tran — who's worked at restaurants in Minnesota, California and New Jersey — was "hands-down" the best.

"From the flavors to the presentation, it was phenomenal," Knauss said. "He blew us all away."

Tran described the restaurant's style of sushi to Ë®¹ûÅÉAV as "modern elevated ... familiar or old-school, but kind of new at the same time." Along with traditional rolls and sashimi, the menu will include more unique items like baked mussels and spicy tuna tostada. Tran compared the latter to nachos, mixing Japanese and Mexican cuisine. Drinks will include hot and cold sake, and signature cocktails.

The restaurant's fish will be flown in daily from around the world, Tran said. That focus on freshness means the menu will change seasonally, monthly and even weekly.Ìý

"Want to make sure it's genuinely an exceptional experience every time someone comes through our doors," Knauss said. "An elevated sushi experience that doesn't really exist in upstate New York."

For that reason, Knauss and his partners expect Hidden Fish customers to come from not just central New York, but a much wider region. All four partners are residents of Skaneateles, so Knauss said they hope to bring "culinary diversity" to the community the way Weitsman and his wife, Kim, have with stylish Mexican restaurant Elephant and the Dove and historic fine dining spot The Krebs.Ìý

Knauss and Weitsman are also partners in Clover's, the diner they opened in the former Johnny Angel's Heavenly Burger's in June 2022 in response to the closure of the beloved Hilltop Restaurant.

"It's important for us to have as many great food options as possible," Knauss said. "We want to grow the region, we want to attract great people to the region, and a big part of that is the food scene."

As they do at their other restaurants, Knauss said, he and Weitsman will donate all of their profits from Hidden Fish to local charities.

The restaurant's dining room and bar seat about 50, but two patio areas the partners hope to develop for warmer seasons will increase capacity by about 35. Standing in the finished interior in December — its clean wooden surfaces interrupted only by commissioned panels of moss and more illustrations with Japanese influence — Knauss said he was excited for the community to experience Hidden Fish.

"After a lot of hard work and some really great visioning it's come to life," Knauss said. "We're really proud of it."