5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
‘Taking a seasonal pause': This Miami Beach restaurant from a celebrity chef is closed
Another Miami-area restaurant is taking a summer break.
Lucky Cat, the Asian-inspired restaurant from Gordon Ramsay, is now closed on Miami Beach.
The restaurant, which opened early in 2024, announced a 'seasonal pause' on Instagram, calling the break 'A moment to reset' and hinted that it had 'a future to be reimagined.' Lucky Cat is located at 119 Washington Ave. in the South of Fifth neighborhood, next to Jeremy Ford's Michelin-starred Stubborn Seed.
'As the city's tempo softens, we're reflecting on an incredible first chapter and dreaming up what's next,' the Lucky Cat post said. 'To our guests, our partners, and our exceptional team: thank you. This isn't goodbye, just a moment to breathe.'
The post hints that Lucky Cat Miami will return at some point, although a couple of restaurants have made the same promise only to close permanently. Ensenada, for example, a coastal Mexican spot at the Vagabond Hotel in Miami, announced it was taking a break, then admitted later it had no plans to reopen.
Also not reopening is Sereia, the Portuguese restaurant in Coconut Grove, which closed in May, while Massimo Bottura's Torno Subito team insists the Italian spot on the rooftop of Julie & Henry's will be back in the fall.
The three Lucky Cat locations in the UK will remain open, as will Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen Miami at 333 Biscayne Blvd. Way.
The first Lucky Cat opened in 2019 in the affluent Mayfair district of London, inspired by Ramsay's traveles in Asia, including Tokyo's vinyl listening lounges and the bars of Shanghai. The restaurants serve an Asian menu with a variety of influences: sushi and sashimi, buns and dumplings, tempura and robata-grilled dishes, bao buns and Korean spiced black cod with gochujang.
Ramsay called it 'an exquisite dining experience.'
'The mood is cool, the ambiance dark and sultry,' he said via email in 2024. 'Every plate has been thoughtfully conceptualized, the flavors are exciting, your palate is alive.'
He told the Miami Herald he had long kept an eye on the Magic City as it exploded into a dining destination.
'Everything is appealing about Miami,' he wrote. 'From a chef's perspective, the ingredients are incredible, and the food scene is so, so hot right now. There is amazing inspiration everywhere: the art, the different areas across the city, and the weather is beautiful. I love it!'
