The Artful Experience of Omakase

Miami’s fascination with high-end sushi restaurants and omakase speakeasies continues to be one of the city’s hottest restaurant trends.

The term omakase directly translates to “I leave it up to you,” and an omakase sushi experience is a “chef’s choice” tasting menu featuring the best of what the restaurant has to offer, as well as seasonal sushi and sashimi. Each omakase piece is a work of handmade art prepared by a master craftsperson. Omakase is often expensive because it offers luxurious, over-the-top experiences with multicourse tasting menus.

Toni’s Sushi Bar (305.673.9368) in the heart of Miami Beach’s Art Deco District at 1208 Washington Ave., is celebrating four decades in business. The restaurant is a beloved destination for locals and visitors alike, delivering Japanese cuisine in a wide selection of sashimi and signature rolls, salads and soup, plus a la carte entrées like Chilean sea bass, salmon carpaccio and bluefin toro tartar.

Siblings Yoko and Kevin Takarada, whose parents founded the restaurant in the 1980s, recently unveiled a redesign in their memory for the restaurant’s 40th anniversary. It was a collaboration with New York City firm KONO Designs, including four traditional craftspeople from Japan who contributed their knowledge of bamboo design. The quartet’s portfolio of work includes ancient temples and royal gardens in Japan.

Bamboo symbolizes strength and beauty, and its flexibility allows it to be shaped into different forms. The design for Toni’s incorporates a mind-boggling five tons of bamboo imported from the mountains of Kyoto to form dramatic shapes. A bamboo tunnel flows over the restaurant’s signature sunken tables and a dynamic bamboo wave seemingly crashes over the sushi bar. The redesign has transformed the eatery into a mesmerizing contemporary space, but the same great traditional Japanese cuisine remains.

Alvaro Perez Miranda, Venezuelan restaurateur and art dealer, is the owner of Japan Authentic Food Systems and Black Ship Art Gallery. He lived for 15 years in Tokyo and is the first Latino in the United States appointed as goodwill ambassador by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

He’s also the mastermind behind omakase restaurant Ogawa, located at 7223 NW Second Ave. in Little River; Hiyakawa (305.333.2417), at 2700 N Miami Ave. in Wynwood, a contemporary Japanese restaurant; and the creator of Midorie (305.775.2233) at 3444 Main Highway in Coconut Grove.

A small eatery tucked away in the Courtyards at Grove Village, Midorie seats only 10 indoors at the sushi bar and 12 on the outdoor terrace. Its menu is the same as its sister restaurant, Miami’s Wabi Sabi (305.890.7228), 851 NE 79th St., which features excellent a la carte sushi and omakase platter offerings at affordable prices.

The stars at Midorie are the donburi Japanese bowls, ranging from vegetarian braised shitake mushrooms to the signature Midorie bowl, made with tuna, salmon, crab tobiko, cucumber, avocado, seaweed and shitake. Desserts include Japanese cheesecake and mochi ice cream in several flavors.

Midorie is open Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 9 p.m., and serves a maximum of 50-60 people a day, so to snag a seat here is to win a real prize.

Hot spot Sushi by Scratch (786.254.1204), located at 3540 Main Highway in Coconut Grove, offers an omakase-only dining experience in a speakeasy atmosphere. Husband-and-wife chefs and restaurateurs Phillip Frankland Lee, a “Top Chef” contestant, and Margarita Kallas-Lee, an Eater Young Gun 2016 semifinalist, have brought their LA-based, Michelin-starred sushi concept to Miami.

There are three nightly seatings, at 5 p.m., 7:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Arrive early; your dining adventure begins 20 minutes prior to seating time with a complimentary welcoming cocktail in the Allocation Room, the adjacent wine bar. This starts the evening with a mellow vibe.

The 17-course omakase experience consists of nigiri sushi with everything made from scratch, including soy sauce and vinegars, plus a celebratory toast and farewell tea. Beer, wine, sake and Japanese whiskies are available a la carte.

The 10-seat counter is staffed by a team of three chefs and one bartender who meticulously craft their offerings. Interaction with the chefs as they create and present each handmade nigiri to you – and encourage you to eat them in one bite – is part of the fun. Fan favorites include hamachi painted with sweet corn pudding and topped with breadcrumbs, and two different presentations of bone marrow. A seat at the counter will set you back $165 per person (plus tax and service). A $50 deposit per diner is required and is credited toward the final bill.

Openings

In Miami Beach’s upscale South of Fifth neighborhood, buzzing newcomer Kissaki (305.701.1320), located at 500 South Pointe Dr., Ste. 160, is the latest omakase restaurant to debut in Miami. With five locations in New York, this is Kissaki owner/restauranteur Garry Kanfer’s sixth outpost, the first outside of New York.

The stylish interiors were designed by Lauren Jayne Design Studio to resemble Japanese drinking dens. Kissaki, named after the tip of a Japanese katana sword, surprises with contemporary interpretations of traditional Japanese cuisine. The restaurant’s open kitchen serves both the omakase bar and the tables. It features fresh catches flown in daily from the restaurant’s own fishery in Japan.

Also in the South of Fifth area, Gordon Ramsey has debuted Lucky Cat (786.671.4840) at 119 Washington Ave., an open-kitchen Asian restaurant which seats eight guests at the chef’s table with a culinary master, and 10 guests at the intimate sushi counter.

Osaka Nikkei (786.627.4800) in the Brickell House condominium at 1300 Brickell Bay Dr. in Miami has added a speakeasy-style concept, Kero by Osaka.

Pinstripes (786.998.2180) at 19505 Biscayne Blvd. in Aventura combines made-from-scratch Italian American cuisine with bowling and bocce.

Omar Montero has launched Mexican-inspired Casa Ya’ax (786.877.3225) at 51 NE 24th St. in Wynwood, featuring sophisticated regional Mexican cuisine, while woman-owned Mexican steakhouse Casa Matilda (305.456.1755) – located in South Beach at 411 Washington Ave. – offers Mexican cuisine with Mediterranean influences.

Finally, a local outpost of New York City French bakery Maman, located at 51 NW 26th St. in Wynwood, and Café Bastille, (786.425.3575) at 538 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach, have both opened their doors.

Irene Moore is a Miami-based writer and certified sommelier whose vivid descriptions take readers through culinary cultures around the world. Her feature articles have appeared in print publications, travel guidebooks and websites in the U.S. and Europe.