Karyu photo
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When Karyu opens in the Miami Design District on Wednesday, February 4, the restaurant will introduce a menu built almost entirely around Japanese beef. While most tasting menus and omakases treat wagyu as a single, decadent course, this Tokyo-born restaurant uses the beloved beef as the star of nearly every course.
This opening marks the latest project from Spicy Hospitality Group, the team currently expanding its Miami footprint with spots like the Joyce, Le Specialità, and Yasu Omakase.
Karyu photo
From Clear Broth to Chateaubriand
The meal follows the kaiseki (traditional multi-course) format, focusing on pacing and temperature. It starts with nikusui (clear beef broth), an umami-rich soup meant to wake up the palate. That is followed by a beef cutlet sandwich made with Kobe tenderloin and a “taco” that swaps the tortilla for a shiso leaf and lettuce, topped with aged Gruyère and a raw egg yolk mixed at the counter.
The meal then moves into heavier preparations, including a Tajimaguro chateaubriand and traditional sukiyaki (simmered beef) served with Japanese rice. The savory side of the menu ends with tantanmen (spicy sesame noodles) in a sesame broth, then finishes with a seasonal kakigori (shaved ice) dessert.
The menu is tied to the Japanese calendar, so it changes monthly to reflect the country’s microseasons.
Karyu photo
The Miami Team From Tokyo
Chef Haruka Katayanagi is the man behind the restaurant, but has tapped three of his top protégés from Tokyo to run the Miami outpost. Head chef Hiroshi Morito runs the kitchen, while sous chef Seishiro Tatsukawa serves as the sommelier. Akiho Saito oversees the dining room as service director, to make sure the space matches the standards of the Michelin-starred Japanese flagship.
The kitchen has an exclusive pipeline to Ueda Chikusan, a family-run ranch in the Japanese mountains. They raise Tajimaguro cattle, a rare breed with DNA similar to that of Kobe beef. Karyu is currently the only restaurant in the country serving beef from this farm, using different cuts and techniques to show that wagyu can be more than just a rich slab of fat meat.
The beverage program centers on sake, with ten rare selections anchoring the drink options. The wine list is small, featuring three whites and five reds, all chosen for their acidity to balance the richness of the beef.
Karyu photo
Wood, Hay, and Pottery
The Rockwell Group designed the 40 NE 41st St. space to feel like a traditional Japanese home. Guests enter through a white-oak storefront and pass through linen curtains into a sake room decorated with an ikebana (traditional flower arrangement) installation.
The main 12-seat room is made with materials like Japanese cedar, hand-molded pottery, and plaster mixed with real hay. The floor is a green terrazzo with brass accents, and the space is divided by indigo linen noren screens.
Karyu. 40 NE 41st St., Miami; karyu-mia.com. Opening February 4.
