Nando Chang Is Back: Omakase Restaurant Itamae AO Opens in Midtown

Chef Nando Chang is honestly really cool. Like, insanely knowledgeable about old-school hip-hop and rap cool. Oh, and he's also a critically acclaimed chef who owns one of the most hyped-up restaurants to open in Miami this year.

Chef Nando Chang, who was named one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs back in September 2023, along with his equally talented sister, Valerie Chang, has opened Itamae AO, a new Nikkei restaurant with a Peruvian-Japanese tasting menu in Miami's Midtown neighborhood. The eight-course unconventional omakase menu will be served at two nightly seatings at the restaurant's ten-seat counter.

What was once Itamae, the former beloved Nikkei food hall spot in the Design District that he closed in August of 2023, is now this reimagined, 1,100-square-foot Midtown restaurant that has a bright, modern, and mellow vibe. It's where delicious, Nikkei-inspired omakase dishes will be served in a fast-paced environment while rap plays over the speakers, and it's where the chef aims to provide guests with a more approachable omakase experience that focuses on Japanese technique, Peruvian influences, and tropical and seasonal ingredients from around Miami, Peru, and the U.S.

A Whole New Itamae Experience

For those who were regulars at Itamae, the new restaurant certainly builds on the success of the former restaurant — but don't expect the old Itamae.

For this version of Itamae, Nando Chang added the word "AO" to the restaurant's name, which translates to "blue" in Japanese, which serves as an indication to guests that this new location focuses on the ocean and seafood more than ever before. It's also a tribute to his ancestors who traveled from China to Peru via the ocean as well as their relationship with the water living in the coastal towns of Pacasmayo and Chiclayo, Peru.

"Taking some of my father's classics and reimagining them for a new menu has been pretty cool," explains Nando Chang, who was inspired to pursue cooking after his father, who immigrated to the U.S. from Peru. "Although we won't have the Itamae classics on the menu, we've upgraded some of the dishes that we made before. So, we've kept some of the DNA from Itamae. Only one dish remains the same, which is our ceviche, but most of the dinner menu is new."

The new restaurant has been designed to evoke the feel of arriving at Chang's personal open kitchen allowing for intimate, interactive dining. The space has been transformed from a juice bar to an omakase counter experience with every detail, finish, and fixture selected by Chang. Natural wood textures are throughout the space, rattan sliding panels conceal the four dry agers that will be revealed each day before service, and a blue terrazzo countertop adds a pop of color while providing a nod to the restaurant's name.

No Sibling Rivalry — Only Love

Chang and his family also own award-winning Peruvian restaurant Maty's right next door and B-Side Sushi in Wynwood. Maty's, owned by his sister, who is also the executive chef, has won numerous accolades since opening in 2023. Valerie Chang was selected as one of Food & Wine's "Best New Chefs of 2023." Days later, Bon Appétit named her then-six-month-old restaurant one of the best new restaurants in the nation.

Now, it's Nando's turn.

With his first solo chef venture, Nando Chang is looking to make his mark on the culinary scene while still paying homage to his family, utilizing some ingredients and techniques from the previous iterations. Take, for example, his father "Papa Chang's" sweet shiitake mushrooms, which were previously seen in the crowd-pleaser Totoro roll, are now on top of a lucuma custard dessert; and the ceviche, which was a crown jewel of Itamae since its inception, now makes its return with local grouper that is dry-aged and cut into perfect sashimi slices with a classic ají limo leche de tigre and percebes (gooseneck barnacles). Last, take the squid tiradito, which now showcases a housemade kosho made by straining the ají limo from the aforementioned leche and fermenting it with salt, sugar, and yuzu skin.

"While I've been cooking professionally for some time now, it was only in the last few years that I've fully come to understand who I am as a chef and my culinary identity, one that can blend seamlessly with my family's point of view while also standing out on my own," says Nando Chang. "The journey Itamae has been on since it first opened in a food hall has been nothing less than amazing, and I'm looking forward to showing off this latest version as Itamae AO and for Miami to enjoy our food once again, this time in the form of the Nikkei Experience."

Adding to the amazing factor for the chef is that he is no longer confined to a food hall — which came with its own set of challenges. Now, he takes full control of his dream restaurant. "At Itamae AO, we don't need as many staff members as we did before at the mall — and I'm so happy. I like to prep a lot of my work. Back then, I had a hard time because I knew I didn't have to have 20 crew members to execute my restaurant. Now, I'm back to being hands-on."

Unconventional Omakase

The new ten-seat counter at Itamae AO is a game-changer for the chef, who was once constrained to the six-seat counter back in the Design District. "Before, I would try to be hyper-focused on the six guests in front of me, but, you know, I had a whole floor to deal with outside. And with the rain and how hot it gets, I ran into issues in the Design District space. This new restaurant is a game changer."

Itamae AO offers an unconventional, eight-course omakase menu categorized by dry-aged fish, sashimi, nigiri, an intermezzo, noodles, anticuchos, aguadito, and dessert. Nearly every course features multiple elements that seamlessly blend together while at the same time allowing each dish to shine.
In addition to the previously mentioned refreshed Itamae dishes, guests can enjoy dishes such as the "Muchame" with swordfish, tomato, and heirloom beans that honors Peruvian fisherman and uses a traditional process of salt curing and aging fish that was brought to Peru from Portuguese and Italian fisherman; surf clam nigiri with ají amarillo and nori, which is reminiscent of a traditional cevicheria in which the three elements of ceviche, jalea, and arroz come together in the flavor of the sushi rice to mimic arroz con mariscos; scallop nigiri with apple banana and ají charapita pulls inspiration from a traditional Amazonian ceviche that uses plantain and is combined with the ají charapita pepper that is farmed locally; and spot prawn with soba noodles and shrimp head condiment is one of the many examples of a Japanese kitchen using as much of the whole product as possible with the prawn tails used for a tartare and the prawn heads turned into a chilled chupe cream to be used as a coating for the soba.

The beverage program consists of a collection of sake, shochu, Japanese whisky, and an eclectic list of the staff's favorite wines that best pair with seafood. The wines also steer towards low-intervention, biodynamic producers.

Itamae AO is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday with seatings at 6:30 and 9:15 p.m. for $165 per person, not inclusive of tax and gratuity. Guests may add a beverage pairing that includes wines, sake, and sherry for $95 per person. Reservations can be booked 14 days in advance at 8 a.m. daily via resy.com. Street and garage parking is available nearby.

Itamae AO. 3255 NE First Ave., Miami; itamaeao.com.