USA Today
Published Feb .10, 2000

Kaiseki, described
	Egg with eel, clear soup, giant clam and green tea

Related story: Kaiseki 

In America's Japanese restaurants, kaiseki meals are usually less formal
than in Japan, and the selection of dishes varies widely according to the
chef's whims and the availability of ingredients.

Courses in a standard kaiseki will nearly always include a seasonal 
appetizer, a clear soup, sushi and sashimi; grilled, steamed and simmered 
foods; a trio of rice, pickles and miso soup; sweets, fruit and tea.

A typical $60 winter kaiseki menu at Sugiyama in New York City:

Sakizuke. Seasonal appetizer, such as monkfish liver-tofu pate with ponzu 
(vinegar) sauce.

Zensai. Assortment of fish and vegetables including preserved black beans; 
mountain yam; egg with eel; fish cake; chestnut jelly; mountain peach in 
aspic; shrimp; sweet potato; deep-fried tofu sandwich with seafood; and 
"elephant foot," a gelatinous paste from the root of the konnyaku plant.

Tukuri. Sashimi (raw seafood), including California sea urchin, oysters, 
fatty tuna, yellowtail, shrimp, squid, giant clam and Japanese red 
snapper. 

Suimono. Clear soup flavored with seaweed and dried fish.

Ishiyaki. Beef tenderloin strips or raw seafood cooked at the table on a 
red-hot stone.

Oshinogi. Sea eel, freshwater eel and mackerel sushi. 

Nimono. Simmering broth with octopus, yam and snow peas.

Shokuji. Sticky rice with seaweed, ginko nuts and seafood in a soy-sake 
marinade; pickled carrots and cucumbers; and miso soup.

Dessert. Wine jelly