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When Shinsen's Ahi Tower crossed my Instagram feed a few months ago, I knew a visit to the new restaurant was in my near future. An edible work of art, the Ahi Tower is placed in the center of an artistic sea of sauces and built with white sushi rice, crab meat, avocado, spicy tuna, and topped off with four types of colorful fish roe and seaweed. Seriously, it's what sushi dreams are made of. Tony Bo Chan opened Shinsen's doors about six months ago. The airy Japanese restaurant, nestled on Bowery Street in Manhattan, New York, boasts clean lines, minimalist decor, light wood floors and tables, exposed brick, sleek chandeliers, a neon-pink samurai sign, a communal table, and sushi bar. "I wanted it to be really, really cool and fun and hip. This building is like 120 years old, so I wanted to use the brick. I wanted to make it modern, use natural wood. I wanted to play cool music, have a sake lounge in the back to hangout, for private parties. Luckily, we're doing all that right now," says owner, Tony Bo Chan. Before entering the restaurant business, the former men's wear designer with 20+ years experience founded two fashion labels, SwishNYC and Bo Clothing, and opened two stores, GOTO (a lifestyle shop) and Swish (a skate shop). "They were in 100 stores in Japan as well as in London and Paris. We had a really good run [16 years]. I really like the clothing business, but it was exhausting...but creating is my thing; I like to create and I like to design." Fashion had him traveling for months at a time, and Tony longed to be around his family more, so he opened Shinsen, which means fresh in Japanese. "Clearly, I want everyone to know that the fish is fresh! But also the vibe is fresh. I really like being on the ground level 'cause I feel like it's really inspiring and you meet a lot of cool people. I was trying to fill a void on the Bowery. There's nothing around here, so I thought it would be a good opportunity." While this is the entrepreneur's first foray into the restaurant business, restaurateurs run in his family; he has learned much from his father and Grandma Sin, who opened their own restaurants in the past. Now, Tony gets to spend more time with his 1-year-old daughter, James Collette, and 4-year-old son, Hendrix, who visit him at the restaurant every day. "He loves sushi," he notes about Hendrix. Grandma Sin, who Tony credits for helping craft Shinsen's menu, is at Shinsen every day, too. "I gotta give a shout-out to Grandma, she's a big part of what we do here. She brings out the more traditional approach, and then me and my wife [Theresa Sin] try and fill in the more modern... what would be fun and cool? What would be tasty? What are people feeling right now?" WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DISH? "Salmon Osaka 'cause I love salmon and the smokiness. It changes though. I really like the Hamachi off-the-menu roll you just had. I was back there and started messing around. The Hamachi we've got is so good, it's so fresh. I was like, what would go nicely with this?" Tony shares about the roll he created. Tony Bo Chan and Theresa Sin Photo Credit: Cortney Van Jahnke