FROM CALI TO COCONUT GROVE:
SUSHI BY SCRATCH RESTAURANTS: MIAMI OPENING JULY 1, 2022
MICHELIN STARRED SUSHI CONCEPT FURTHERING MIAMI’S MICHELIN MOMENT
Images: Sushi by Scratch Restaurants
Without question, Miami is having a Michelin moment. Considering the recent tidal wave of adulation from the revered guide, from Bib Gourmands to Stars, the Magic City represented. On the heels of those big wins, California-based Scratch Restaurants Group is announcing the impending opening of its Michelin-starred omakase concept, Sushi by Scratch Restaurants: Miami. Slated to open at Coconut Grove’s historic Stirrup House on July 1, 2022 – with a waiting list already building in anticipation – Sushi by Scratch Restaurants: Miami will signal the arrival of husband-and-wife chef/restaurateurs Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee to Miami’s sunny shores. “Miami is a city we know well and have great affection for,” notes Kallas-Lee, who lived here as a teenager. “When we launched the Scratch Restaurants group a decade ago, we made a promise to ourselves to open restaurants in cities we loved and felt a genuine connection to. We were honored to receive a Michelin star in 2021 and are thrilled to be opening here just as the Guide is shining a light on this one-of-a-kind place.” Note: Last year was a big year for the chefs. In 2021 both Sushi by Scratch Restaurants: Montecito and Pasta Bar by Scratch Restaurants: Los Angeles both received Michelin stars.
Housed behind the newly-starred Ariete restaurant in the heart of Coconut Grove, Stirrup House is a historic two-story bungalow that evokes the spirit and mystique of bygone Florida. Sushi by Scratch Restaurants: Miami is taking over the bottom floor of the building, transforming it into a 10-seat counter-only omakase den, manned by a team of three chefs and one bartender. With three seatings nightly (5PM, 7:15PM and 9:30PM), dinner at Sushi by Scratch Restaurants is a literal hands-on experience you won’t want to miss. Each bite is handmade and placed by our chefs, who engage directly with our guests over 17 courses, which lasts about two hours. Lee fell in love with sushi as a kid dining across Los Angeles with his father. In fact, it was his first omakase experience with his father’s friend, a sushi chef, which laid the seeds for what would become the family of Sushi by Scratch Restaurants. Locations include Los Angeles, the Michelin-starred outpost in Montecito, Austin and now Miami. “Naturally the quality of our product must be and is of the utmost importance. But what was made clear to me over the years is that a truly exceptional omakase experience is about more than who has the best fish and rice. That is important but beyond being a showcase for sourcing and technique a great omakase experience must ‘tell a story and take diners on a journey. With every bite that is what we aim to do.”
A journey begins 20 minutes prior to the scheduled seating time with a complimentary welcome cocktail. From there, a progressive, intoxicating and alluring tasting experience consisting of strictly nigiri, each item handmade and served as is – no extras, no sidecars of soy sauce or wasabi. In fact, everything is made from scratch, including soy sauce, vinegars, etc. “although the flavor profiles of our nigiri may not sound traditional, our approach to nigiri is,” adds Kallas-Lee. “Our niche has always been our flavor profiles. Someone might be surprised when a perfect slice of Hamachi is painted with a sweet corn pudding and topped with a fine sprinkle of bread crumbs. But that one bite delivers a flavor you won’t forget and is also a call back to Phillip’s childhood and is designed, also, to trigger our guests most beloved food memories.”
Though the menu changes regularly signature items abound. A fan favorite is Chef Lee’s signature
1-2 Punch. These two signature dishes feature bone marrow. First, we serve a roasted bone marrow nigiri seasoned simply with our homemade soy sauce, sea salt, and freshly grated wasabi root, For the following course we reserve the bone in our Japanese Eel dish we season the eel with a salt made from matcha green tea, mushrooms, and kelp and then we use a blowtorch to render the excess fat still left in the bone over the eel frying the eel in the bone marrow. Once fried crispy, we quickly sog it out with soy, ponzu, lemon, sea salt, and yuzu kosho made from poblano peppers. Every evening ends with a delicious, sweet finale, paired with a complimentary hot green tea/sake cocktail. An addedsurprise is the mood of the room at any Sushi by Scratch Restaurants location. “We take what we do very seriously but aim to deliver fun and flavor,” Frankland Lee adds. “We designed a night with us to be unforgettable but also fun. The music is joyful, the mood boisterous, the room lively. We would describe it as an ebullient type of Zen.”
A seat at Sushi by Scratch Restaurants: Miami is $165 per person plus tax and service. Non-alcoholic beverages are included with beer, wine, sake and Japanese whiskeys available a la carte. There are also two beverage pairing options: $85 (featuring three different sakes, two cocktails and one beer) and $110 (featuring six different pours of sake). Reservations are required and can be made in advance via https://www.exploretock.
Sushi by Scratch Restaurants Miami is located at the historic Stirrup House in Coconut Grove at
3242 Charles Street. Dinner is served Wednesday through Sunday across three seatings –
5PM, 7:15PM and 9:30PM. Ample street parking is available. For more information on Scratch Restaurants please visit www.
Media contact:
Ivette Valle/Larry Carrino
Brustman Carrino Public Relations
(305) 573-0658
About Scratch Restaurants
Scratch Restaurants started when Chefs Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee decided they wanted to put their personal spin on what a restaurant concept could be. Although each of their concepts are independent and unique from one another, the constant thread that ties all of Scratch Restaurants together is the dedication to the artisanal “from scratch” approach to hospitality.