Room service

The city’s hottest sushi slingers started in a dorm

M OST college students sate their appetites with dining-hall sludge or instant ramen. But Manhattan natives Jarrett Deutsch and Ethan Cole (left), both 19, spent last semester creating elaborate sushi dishes — think soy-glazed tuna topped with tofu puree — for classmates in their Boston University dorm room.

“We were booked every night,” says Deutsch of the pair’s once-, and occasionally twice-weekly omakase “restaurant.” Called the 803, after their room number, the space sat four near drape-covered beds, with food prep taking place on desks. Each night brought in 28 to 32 visitors paying up to $35 a head for a 10-piece nigiri tasting.

With school out for summer, the duo is back in Manhattan for a more formal take on their dorm-based concept: a 35- to 40-seat pop-up restau- rant at Clancey on the Lower East Side, set to run from Aug. 17 to 19. Lunch is priced at $45 to $60, and dinner tickets will command $100 to $130.

The 803 got its start when the foodie friends refused to settle for BU’s humdrum dining options — and blew too much cash on restaurant meals.

“My dad was getting pissed that I was spending a couple thousand every month on food,” Deutsch says.

As a result, the roommates began making their own meals, at first with a CrockPot. (Their favorite dishes included pull-apart chicken and lamb shank.) One day they decided to try their hands at sushi, relying on a mix of improvisation and basic sushi-making techniques Cole had picked up from his family.

In a lucky accident, they prepared too much.

“These frat kids started buying the extras off us, and we made our money back,” says Deutsch. “Ethan was like, ‘Hey, we should start a restaurant.’ ”

That’s pretty much what they did. Nearly two days of prep work yielded a six-hour dinner service — and overnight success.

For their New York debut, Deutsch and Cole have a little more help. Chef Pecko Zantilaveevan, 50, is advising.

“I think it’s cool,” Zantilaveevan says of the duo’s humble beginnings. “I was surprised they have so many people following them.”

Deutsch and Cole already have their sights set on an East End expansion.

“We want people to know our names in the Hamptons,” Cole says. They hope to operate in that area full time next summer.

At this point, anything is possible.

“It’s just amazing that we have a kitchen for a change,” says Deutsch.