He proposed a US branch of Bar Cocktailante Oboro, the members-only Tokyo spot run by his friend Shunta Yamakawa, which serves exceptional, digestion-supporting, fruit-based elixirs.
In summer 2024, the Tcherassi brothers and Namba will open the multi-concept Ura, a 1,700 sq ft (158 square metre) space that includes Sushi Namba and the Listening Room, a jazz lounge that will also host Cocktailante Oboro.
Ura will be in a gated building in Allapattah, an up-and-coming artistic neighbourhood northwest of downtown Miami.
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To eat at Sushi Namba and drink at Listening Room, Miami residents will first have to pay a US$10,000 membership fee. This will give them access to monthly seats at the sushi counter, as well as to the bar and jazz lounge.
The eye-opening fee will not make Sushi Namba the first US$10,000 members-only Japanese spot in Miami, though. Major Food Group (MFG) already operates ZZ’s Club there, with its US$10,000 initiation fee and US$3,500 annual membership. Namba will not require annual membership.
Chefs want customers who will repeatedly visit, respect [them], respect other customers, and various other factors depending on the chef
The trend toward private restaurants and bars is taking off in the US. In October 2023, MFG announced the New York launch of ZZ’s Club at a cost of US$30,000 for new members; earlier this year, New York became home to the referral-only whisky den Beatbox.
John Hirai, a top reviewer for the Japan-based restaurant rating site Tabelog, said that by choosing their customers, operators can better control the dining experience.
For in-demand restaurants with just 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 noted.
The Tcherassi brothers agree. They say that opening an expensive members-only place brings guests a better experience. Once Namba comes to know customers, he can customise their experience – a common practice in Japan.
There is even a word for it: omotenashi is the Japanese approach to hospitality for hosts whose work goes above and beyond the norm.
Miami is the Tcherassis’ hometown, the base for the family’s luxury dress label, Silvia Tcherassi.
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Samuel Tcherassi 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 Tabelog, Sushi Namba in Ginza is Tokyo’s fifth-best sushi spot and seventh best in all Japan. Namba has set himself apart among Tokyo’s sushi elite, thanks to his obsessive approach regarding temperature control of his sushi service.
The chef serves each piece of nigiri, both fish and rice, at the exact temperature he believes will optimally enhance each ingredient.
He arranges 24-degree Celsius (75-degree Fahrenheit) otoro – fatty tuna belly – on 40-degree Celsius rice; at these temperatures, Namba explains, the tuna’s fat melts into the rice while the vinegar that seasons the rice balances the fish’s richness.
Bonito, on the other hand, is best served at 22 degrees Celsius, draped over 38 degrees Celsius rice.
Namba says he has dreamed of expanding to a “beautiful city [that] always has good weather” and plans the Miami menu to match that in Tokyo.
His long-time senior apprentice Yuma Takanashi will run the American counter, with Namba there for a month around the opening and then for one week in each quarter.
Although 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 appetisers before moving on to consume around 15 nigiri.
He will offer two of his signature starters: soy sauce-marinated monkfish liver sashimi and stewed red bream accented with green-onion-like negi.
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The Miami restaurant is being designed by Colombia-based 5 Sólidos, using a few simple, top-quality materials such as stone, wood and concrete. It is “inspired by sushi itself”, says Jose Tcherassi.
Up front will be a 10-seat Japanese cypress-wood sushi counter, and a private four-seat nook will overlook a small garden studded with rocks and bonsai trees.
Beyond that will be the Listening Room, to be equipped with an Audio Note vacuum-tube analogue audio system designed by Soundlux Audio, with custom Devon Turnbull speakers.
This space will double as a cocktail lounge, with baskets of seasonal Japanese and domestic fruit, plus a wall of premium liquors. Pick your fruit, pick your spirit and Kazuki Yonekawa, Yamakawa’s senior apprentice, will get to work making your cocktail.
