When top Japanese chefs and restaurateurs expand to the U.S., they invariably head to New York: Just look at the jammed counters at Yoshino, Odo and Sushi Nakazawa.
However, when Samuel and Jose Tcherassi approached Hidefumi Namba, the revered shokunin, or craftsman, behind Tokyo’s 8-seat, referral-only Sushi Namba, the brothers and first-time restaurateurs didn’t offer him a plush pad in Manhattan. Instead, they made a bold offer: Open in Miami.
Namba countered with his own suggestion. If he were to expand to Florida, the space should have a bar. And it shouldn't just be any drinking establishment either, but a U.S. branch of the member’s-only Bar Cocktailante Oboro, the Tokyo spot run by his friend Shunta Yamakawa that serves exceptional, digestion-supporting, fruit-based elixirs.