With his new South Beach iteration, Masaharu Morimoto strikes a delicious balance between tradition, experimentation, and whimsy.
Morimoto Sashimi Terrine—bite-size stacks of seared chu-toro, smoked salmon, eel, tuna, and hamachi—epitomizes the chef’s playful approach at Morimoto South Beach.
On an unassuming balmy weeknight, deep within the newly renovated Shelborne Wyndham Grand, South Beach’s restaurant scene has reached its apex. The setting is New York transplant Morimoto, where iron chef dominator Masaharu Morimoto’s expertly prepared plates pass among leggy models and famous DJs to the sound of untz-untz—a new context for the Iron Chef’s soul-satisfying food. But then you experience a piece of chu-toro (medium fatty tuna), shipped from Tokyo’s unmatched Tsukiji Fish Market within the last 48 hours, and for a brief moment you taste nirvana. Almost porcine in its glorious pink perfection, this is not a fish you chew and swallow—it just disappears in your mouth, like a dream you desperately want to retrieve.
Millions of Food Network fans have seen Morimoto vanquish culinary competitors on Iron Chef America. With the Japanese flag proudly pressed on one sleeve, he may be the most intimidating of the Iron Chefs, perhaps because masterfully prepared Japanese food seems to command more reverence than almost any other cuisine. And it doesn’t hurt that viewers hear Chef Morimoto through a translator, adding to his air of gustatory godliness.
Masaharu Morimoto and his dedicated kitchen staff.
At his South Beach outpost, the sashimi is divine—the Morimoto Sashimi Terrine, a bite-size stack of seared chu-toro, smoked salmon, eel, tuna, and hamachi, is decadently so—but not all of the food at Morimoto is so precious. And that’s a good thing. The noodle bowls offer a hearty counterweight to the daintier dishes. The South Beach Chilled Noodle—cold, thick, nutty, served with a spoonful of pork sauce and drizzled with garlic chili oil—is especially good. Then there’s the unexpected uni carbonara, a Japanese- Italian fusion that features a piece of urchin and a raw quail egg atop a creamy bed of udon noodles. It’s one whimsical dish among several that Morimoto uses to break down his guests’ dietary reservations.
“Playfulness is a key element in making a dish approachable,” he says. “Uni is not an ingredient that is very common or familiar to all guests. By the use of a familiar name (carbonara) and a common ingredient like noodles, it makes the dish more familiar and inviting. Since Japanese food can sometimes be considered too exotic or foreign, it is important that I take this approach without sticking to the traditions.”
The Morimoto Ceviche uses local seafood in a nod to its South Beach location.
You get a hint of this approach just by browsing the menu, which includes such agreeable dish titles as tuna pizza and Duck Duck Duck. But when you taste the food, whether it’s an appetizer like the hamachi tacos or an entrée like the braised black cod in a ginger-soy reduction, you know Morimoto and his staff of focused cooks aren’t playing around.
It’s this impeccable balance—between tradition and experimentation, quality and whimsy—that has made Morimoto one of the most recognized chefs in the world. Opening a location in Miami has always been in the plan, he says, so when a poolside space became available at the recently renovated Shelborne, he seized the opportunity. “Aligning myself with a hotel that has a deep-rooted legacy was important to me,” he says of the midcentury Art Deco landmark. “The new renovation of the entire resort is beautiful, combining elements of the original with modern-day design. This is similar to my cuisine, which combines traditional and modern flavors and techniques.”
The interior of the restaurant has a club-like feel.
While the menu does feature Miami-inspired offerings, including a lobster, conch, and white fish ceviche, it’s mostly signature Morimoto dishes. Sometimes that signature can be hard to detect, for example, with a raw piece of fish served on a humble bed of rice. And sometimes that’s where you’ll experience a taste of culinary bliss. Shelborne Wyndham Grand South Beach, 1801 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-341-1329