New York 4-star restaurant fueled by unlikely pair

There are more than 24,000 restaurants in New York City, but only six share the distinction of a four-star rating from the New York Times. The newest is Sushi Nakazawa, run by an ambitious American restaurateur and Japanese chef who crossed a cultural divide to make it happen, reports "CBS This Morning" co-host Charlie Rose.

In a city famous for theater, New York's newest stage can be found at Sushi Nakazawa, where nightly performances are designed for the palate. The year-old restaurant with a month-long wait for a reservation is the creation of an otherwise unlikely pair, Daisuke Nakazawa and Alessandro Borgognone.

"It was a crazy idea. I turned on Netflix and I ended up watching 'Jiro Dreams of Sushi' and I fell in love with the whole documentary," Borgognone said.

The 2011 documentary follows Jiro Ono, said to be among the best sushi chefs in the world, who operates a small, but coveted sushi counter within a Tokyo train station. Nakazawa appears in the film as an 11-year-apprentice who earns the respect of his teacher.

Despite knowing little about Japanese cuisine or culture, Borgognone, who was running a popular Italian restaurant in New York, was convinced to get into the business of sushi.

"When I found him on Facebook, I was still not sure whether it was him or not," Borgognone said. "I sent him a message, but translated the whole message, thinking that he was in Japan."

But some might be surprised that Borgognone was even looking for the best sushi maker in the world, as his family is in the Italian restaurant business.

"Being Italian, I'm passionate about food. And it doesn't necessarily have to be Italian food. ," Borgognone said. "I loved Japanese cuisine. I've been really interested in Japanese culture."

Part of the Japanese-culture-of-business meant spending months getting to know his chef.

"Mr. Nakazawa wanted to know who I was. He wanted to know about my family. He wanted to know exactly what I did, you know, for fun," Borgognone said. "And me not knowing Japanese culture, I found it interesting."

But for Mr. Nakazawa, there were some challenges.

"Well I have four kids. Almost got one more. Five kids. If I cannot protect my family, it's my big risk," Nakazawa said.

The risk, in this case, paid off. Just four months after opening, the New York Times called Nakazawa's fish "as delicious as it's ever going to get" and awarded the restaurant its highest honor -- four stars.

"I thought it was crazy," Borgognone said. "It's the equivalent to a football player, a quarterback, winning the Super Bowl. That's' really what it is."

For now, the duo is focusing on this restaurant and making sure each customer leaves satisfied.

"At this point in time, our discussions are about staying here and being consistent," Borgognone said.

For Nakazawa, customer satisfaction is about much more than the sushi.

"I make experience for the customer," Nakazawa said. "Not just food, not just service, not just drink. I make experience. Total experience."

The experience combines well-regarded Japanese cuisine with familiar western service, but Sushi Nakazawa's continued success may lie in the friendship of its founders.

"I think spending an enormous amount of time with each other we get to learn everything about each other," Borgognone said. "He is my best friend."