A $10,000 members-only sushi restaurant is coming to Allapattah
When top Japanese chefs and restaurateurs expand to the U.S., they invariably head to New York. Just look at the jammed counters at Yoshino, Odo and Sushi Nakazawa.
However, when Samuel and Jose Tcherassi approached Hidefumi Namba, the revered shokunin, or craftsman, behind Tokyo’s eight-seat, referralonly Sushi Namba, the brothers and first-time restaurateurs didn’t offer him a plush pad in Manhattan. Instead, they made a bold offer: open in Miami.
Namba countered with his own suggestion. If he were to expand to Florida, the space should have a bar. And not just any drinking establishment either, but a U.S. branch of the memberss-only Bar Cocktailante Oboro, the Tokyo spot run that is run by his friend Shunta Yamakawa and serves exceptional, digestion-supporting, fruit-based elixirs.
A deal was struck and next summer, the Tcherassi brothers and Namba will open the multi-concept Ura — a 1,700square-foot space that includes Sushi Namba and the Listening Room, a jazz lounge that will also be home to Cocktailante Oboro. Ura will be located in a gated building in Allapattah.
To eat at Sushi Namba and drink at Listening Room, patrons will first have to pay a $10,000 members fee. That cost will give them access to monthly seats at the sushi counter, as well as the bar and jazz lounge. The price for sushi omakase will be $400 to $500 per person. The Tcherassi brothers say they will cap the number of members at around 300 and have started to accept reservations.
The eye-opening fee doesn’t make Sushi Namba the first $10,000 members-only Japanese spot in Miami. Major Food Group (MFG) already operates ZZ’s Club there, with a $10,000 initiation fee and $3,500 annual membership. (Namba won’t require an annual membership.)
The trend of private restaurants and bars is taking off in the U.S. In October, MFG announced the New York launch of ZZ’s Club at a cost of $30,000 for new members; last year, NYC also became home to the referral-only whiskey den, Beatbox.
Members-only dining and drinking spots are well established in Japan, as are referral spots where a prospective diner needs to be with a member or get a referral from a regular.
‘RESPECT’
John Hirai, one of Tabelog’s top reviewers, says that by choosing customers, operators can better control dining experiences. For in-demand restaurants, with eight or so seats, “chefs want customers who will repeatedly visit, respect [them], respect other customers, and various other factors depending on the chef,” he notes.
The Tcherassi brothers agree: They say that for opening an expensive members-only place will result in a better experience for guests. Once Namba knows his customers, he can customize the experience, a common practice in Japan.
The Tcherassis chose Miami for the ambitious project because it’s their home town (it’s the base for the family’s luxury dress label, Silvia Tcherassi) but Samuel says he believes the city is ready for “a world-class talent like Namba-san.” He adds that he hopes Ura will inspire more Japanese chefs and operators to open in Miami.
According to the wellrespected Japan-based restaurant rating site Tabelog, Sushi Namba in Ginza is the fifth-best sushi spot in Tokyo, and the seventh-best in all of Japan. Namba has set himself apart among Tokyo’s sushi elite thanks to his obsessive approach to temperature control of his sushi service.
A ‘BEAUTIFUL CITY’
The chef serves each piece of nigiri, both fish and rice, at the exact temperature that he believes optimally enhances each ingredient.
Namba, who says he has dreamed of expanding to a “beautiful city [that] always has good weather,” plans the Miami menu to be the same as Tokyo’s. His longtime senior apprentice Yuma Takanashi will run the American counter and he’ll be in attendance for a month for the opening, and then one week each quarter. Back in Japan, the chef will hand pick the Toyosu Market fish that the team flies to Miami three times a week (he estimates that 90% of the ingredients used on Ura’s menu will be from Japan).
Though the chef calls his style Edomae (traditional sushi that relies on marinated and preserved fish), he does not age his seafood. Guests can expect around seven small appetizers before moving into around 15 nigiri. He promises to offer two of his signature starters: soy sauce-marinated monkfish liver sashimi and stewed red bream accented with green-onion-like negi.
The space is being designed by Colombia-based 5 Sólidos with just a few top-quality materials like stone, wood, and concrete. (It’s “inspired by sushi itself,” says Jose.) Up front will be a 10-seat hinoki wood sushi counter, with an additional private fourseat nook, that will overlook a small rock and bonzai tree-studded garden. Beyond that will be the Listening Room, equipped with an Audio Note tube analog audio system designed by Soundlux Audio, with custom Devon Turnbull speakers.
The space will also double as a cocktail lounge with a baskets of seasonal Japanese and domestic fruit, plus a wall of premium liquors. Pick your fruit, pick your spirit, and Yamakawa’s senior apprentice Kazuki Yonekawa will get to work making your cocktail.