Itamae AO Opens in Miami
After numerous national and local accolades over the last few years for his groundbreaking Miami restaurant, chef Nando Chang has reinvented his Peruvian-Japanese destination as a new(ish) omakase concept named Itamae AO.
For Chang, this new Midtown location is a natural evolution of the Itamae journey that started in a food hall. In August 2023, Chang said goodbye to the Design District iteration of Itamae, and has spent the last several months creating this, a brand new jewel box of a restaurant. Here’s everything you need to know about the newly opened Itamae AO.
About that name change…
For this version of Itamae, you’ll notice a slight name change. The word “ao” translates to “blue” in Japanese and as Chang and co. note, that descriptor serves as an indication that this new restaurant is centered around the ocean — in more ways that one. Certainly you see that in the menu’s distinct seafood focus (see below), but the ocean ties are even deeper, as Chang is also paying homage to the role that the ocean played for his ancestors who traveled from China to Peru and then built their lives in the coastal towns there.
The menu is an omakase affair.
Like its predecessor, Itamae AO’s focus falls on Peruvian-Japanese cuisine, but this time around, the restaurant is centered around an eight-course omakase menu.
A typical bill of fare here includes dry-aged fish, sashimi, nigiri, an intermezzo, noodles, anticuchos, aguadito, and dessert. Expect the menu to change regularly, but currently, you might receive scallop nigiri with apple banana and ají charapita, a dish that pulls inspiration from a traditional Amazonian ceviche. In another course, local grouper is dry-aged and cut into sashimi slices with a classic ají limo leche de tigre and percebes (gooseneck barnacles). Squid tiradito is made with a house kosho made by straining the ají limo from the aforementioned leche and fermenting it with salt, sugar, and yuzu skin. The list goes on.
The price is $165 per person, not inclusive of tax and gratuity. You also have the option for a beverage pairing ($95) that includes wines, sake, and sherry.
Seats are at a premium.
The new location is a beautiful one, but also a tiny one — just 1,100 square feet full of natural wood textures. Dry-aging lockers full of ocean treasures are visible from the dining area, but the room revolves around the 10-seat counter where diners have direct interactions with the team.
The important part: How to grab one of those seats.
Itamae AO is open for dinner only, with two seatings — 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. With just 10 seats and two seatings a night, expect reservations to go quickly, so take note: Reservations are available up to 14 days in advance, released at 8 a.m. daily. You heard it here first.
