Pharrell Williams and the Nami Nori Team Just Unveiled Two New Japanese Restaurants in Miami
What do you get when you cross one of New York’s best hand-roll restaurants with input from a generational creative visionary? Well, now we know.
The team behind Nami Nori and Pharrell Williams have collaborated on two new restaurants in Miami’s Design District—a Nami Nori outpost that opened in mid-December and a Japanese spot called Matsuyoi, which opens next month. The duo mark the first restaurants launched since Williams joined the Launchpad Hospitality group as a partner and advisor, with the next joint project opening in his hometown of Virginia Beach.
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Located in the same building, Nami Nori sits downstairs, while Matsuyoi takes over the upstairs area. The former, which specializes in open-style hand rolls called temaki, is inspired by the beachiness of Miami, with neutral tones and a bright airiness. The menu, from the chef-partners Taka Sakaeda and Jihan Lee, encompasses signature rolls with seafood like X.O. scallop, tuna poke, and spicy crab dynamite. There’s also small plates such as furikake fries and rice chips with spicy tuna or mushroom dip.
Upstairs, you’ll find a more intimate and moody space. There, Sakaeda has crafted a multi-course menu that will rotate seasonally, while still centering the temaki. The 10-seat chef’s counter sits behind a cocktail bar and lounge, and there’s a private dining room and terrace with space for an additional 14 people. Alongside the food, you can add on a wine and sake beverage pairing, or indulge in cocktails such as the Indigo Blue (dark rum infused with forbidden black rice, sake, and toasted rice syrup) or the Get Lucky (gin, Midori, sake, sudachi, and green apple).
While Nami Nori blends right in with its Miami surroundings, Matsuyoi is meant to evoke the feeling of waiting for someone special to arrive. (The name of the restaurant comes from the Japanese characters matsu, or “to wait,” and yoi, or “evening.”) With design inspired by the wood-block artist Kawase Hasui, the restaurant uses shou sugi ban woods and black terra-cotta tiles in the bar area. The chef’s counter, meanwhile, is done up in dark stone with moss-green stools.
As the men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton, Williams clearly has his eye attuned to style, and that’s on display at Launchpad Hospitality’s latest spots. We can’t wait to see what their collaboration has in store further down the line.
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