Naoe

Dinner at chef Kevin Cory’s Naoe at the Courvoisier Centre on Brickell Key is an experience you wouldn’t expect to find outside of Tokyo. The restaurant offers two seatings with a maximum of five people per, and a chef’s-choice menu that might include silver-skinned horse mackerel (aji) glazed with shoyu and plated with pickled wasabi leaves and flowers and freshly grated wasabi root. Salmon wrapped in salted white seaweed; roasted freshwater eel; deep-fried shrimp tamago; rice with shiitake mushrooms and hints of eel — all are meticulously prepared and utterly delicious. If you’re still hungry for more, Cory will prepare nigiri sushi. He started his culinary training at age 19 and is a perennial winner of the Forbes Travel Guide's Five-Star Award. Naoe is a reservations-only restaurant and doesn't allow children under 12. Nor should you expect substitutions — those with allergies to shellfish, nuts, gluten, etc., should seek sustenance elsewhere.