Latest news with #ItamaeAo
Axios
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Axios
Amid slowdown, Miami restaurants take summer pause, promise return
Though a summer slowdown has claimed a stunning number of Miami's best-known restaurants, some recent closure announcements have hinted at an eventual return. That includes Itamae Ao, the intimate, Michelin-starred restaurant that announced its closure Saturday. State of plate: It's unclear when these restaurants will reopen, or if they will offer the same dining experience and meals as before. But after the string of closures announced thus far this summer, we can only hope they stay true to their word. Torno Subito, the Italian restaurant on the rooftop of Julia & Henry's food hall in downtown, said in late June it was time for "a summer pause" and was "taking a little break." A spokesperson told the Miami Herald the restaurant was using the time to "focus on development, and prepare for an even stronger return in the winter." Ensenada, the Latin American and coastal cuisine restaurant housed in MiMo's Vagabond hotel, took to Instagram to announce the restaurant was taking a "summer hiatus" with "plans to reopen after the season with changes to the concept." The post acknowledged the summer slowdown and said it was using the time to "pause, regroup, and explore ways to return" next season. Piegari Italian, which opened last summer in Wynwood, fell short of saying it was closing for a break. Instead, its message hinted at an eventual return.
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
This Miami restaurant has a Michelin star and an award-winning chef. Now it's closing
Another Michelin-starred Miami restaurant is closing, this one from a celebrated James Beard Award-winning chef. Itamae Ao, the stunning 10-seat Peruvian-Japanese restaurant in Midtown from Chef Nando Chang, has announced that it's closing, with the final service Saturday, Aug. 2. The announcement comes a month after Maty's, the Peruvian restaurant operated by Chang's sister Valerie, also a James Beard Award winner, shut down. Itamae Ao's future was immediately uncertain: It's accessed through the adjoining Maty's space, and with Maty's closure, there was no way for customers to enter the smaller restaurant. Chang, who said he is looking for a new home for his award-winning concept, said he was grateful for 'the great run we've had in this special space.' 'Itamae AO has always been closely tied to Maty's — not just because my sister was its chef but because it literally serves as the entrance to our restaurant,' he said. 'When she stepped away, we knew it would soon be time for us to move on as well. Itamae AO isn't going away, and I'm excited to find our new home.' This summer, while he actively seeks a new space, Chang plans to take Itamae on the road with pop-ups in Milwaukee and New York City. The Changs entered the Miami restaurant industry with their father Fernando, operating the original Itamae counter at a Design District food hall. Later, they opened the restaurant as a standalone. Valerie Chang went on to open Maty's, earning the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South in 2024; her brother earned the same award in 2025, a two months after Itamae Ao earned a Michelin star. The guide praised Chang's skill with classic Peruvian-Japanese flavors. 'Searing levels of acidity and spice figure prominently on this bold tasting menu, often in the form of leche de tigre,' the guide says. 'From lobster bisque with sweet potato gnocchi to creamy rice with Hokkaido scallops and parmesan, the cooking possesses style and substance in spades.' At the Michelin ceremony in Orlando, Chang delivered an emotional speech, thanking his family and the city where he has found a home. 'I want to say I could not be prouder . . . to be a part of this beautiful country,' he said. 'Thank you, America, and thank you, Miami. ' He also thanked the James Beard Foundation for their commitment to diversity: 'All food is immigrant and immigrants make America great.'
Miami Herald
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
This Miami restaurant had an award-winning chef and a Michelin nod. Now it's closing
In 2024, a year after she opened her Peruvian restaurant Maty's in Midtown, Miami chef Valerie Chang won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South, ending a 14-year drought for Miami. Now Maty's — named for Chang's Peruvian grandmother — is closing for good after only two years. Chang, whose first Miami spot was Itamae, a counter serving Peruvian-Japanese cuisine at a local food hall she opened with her brother Nando and father Fernando, thanked customers on her Instagram account for patronizing the restaurant, which was recommended in the Michelin Guide. 'Our dad showed us very early on that being in the restaurant could give us an opportunity to struggle a little less — that perhaps we weren't bound only by what our parents could give us, but by what we could also make with our own hands,' she wrote. 'As this chapter comes to an end for me, I want to take this moment to express my deepest gratitude for everyone who has allowed me to cook for them at Maty's over the past two years. We opened this restaurant to honor our grandmother, Maty, in the best way we know how — through food.' Since April, the restaurant at 3255 NE First Ave., had been hosting a residency by Itamae, which served tiraditos, ceviches and nigiris as well as other dishes that made the Changs a hit in the city. The residency will continue through July 5. Meanwhile, Nando Chang, who earned the 2025 Best Chef: South award just a year after his sister, will continue to focus on his 10-seat omakase counter, Itamae Ao, which is located in a smaller room attached to the main Maty's restaurant. Chang, who also earned a Michelin star for Itamae Ao this year, plans to expand the counter's days of operation to Tuesday through Saturday, as well as adding new items to the menu. There's no word on what's next for Val Chang or the former Maty's space.
Miami Herald
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Two Miami chefs, one family: Brother wins top award his sister won last year
Nando Chang, the Peruvian-born chef whose Miami restaurant Itamae Ao earned its first Michelin star this year, has just won a James Beard Award — the exact same award his sister Val won a year ago. Chang, who opened Itamae Ao in 2024, was named Best Chef: South at a ceremony Monday night at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. An emotional Chang thanked his parents, his wife Lauren, brothe Elvis and 'my favorite chef and sister, Val.' He talked about being a Peruvian of Chinese descent, an identity that was 'interesting and at times confusing' and of his love for his adopted country, despite the difficult times for immigrants now. 'I want to say I could not be prouder . . . to be a part of this beautiful country,' he said. 'Thank you, America, and thank you, Miami. ' He also thanked the James Beard Foundation for their commitment to diversity: 'All food is immigrant and immigrants make America great.' The Changs and their father Fernando opened the first iteration of Itamae as a food counter at MIA Market in the Design District (then called St. Roch Market) in 2018. The restaurant served Nikkei cuisine, a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese fare and eventually went on to open as a standalone restaurant across the Palm Court from its original location. The first version of Itamae closed in 2023 to make way for the future. As his sister turned to the opening of Maty's, her Peruvian restaurant named for their grandmother, Nando Chang focused on creating Itamae Ao, a 10-seat wonder that serves a meticulous and imaginative chef's choice menu of Japanese-Peruvian bites highlighting specially dry-aged fish. The restaurant is located through a separate door inside Maty's, and the menu includes stunning examples of sashimi, nigiri, anticuchos and aguadito, highlighting Chang's skill at enhancing Japanese techniques with Peruvian flavors. Chang had long wanted to focus on a more personal dining experience that was more elevated and intimate than he was able to provide at the first Itamae. 'It's something I've dreamed of for a long time, to go straight to omakase,' he told the Miami Herald in 2023. 'That's the kind of experience I want to provide.' In April, Chang brought back the original Itamae to take over the Maty's space for a couple of months. That residency is ongoing at the moment, but Chang is still intensely focused on the intricacies of the dishes at Itamae Ao. 'We want every single bite to make you go 'Whoa!' ' he said.
Bloomberg
18-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Orlando Takes Over Florida's Food Scene in Latest Michelin Rankings
As demand for premium Miami office space cools, the city's dynamic restaurant scene is also slowing down. At least according to Michelin. In the storied French guide's latest rankings, announced on Thursday night in Orlando, Wall Street South gained just one new starred restaurant, the Nikkei tasting-menu spot Itamae Ao; in last year's rankings, Miami picked up three.
