Last year, was the inaugural Mix it Up with Morimoto and Friends event and while it was a fun evening with sushi, sake and karaoke it wasn't quite settled. The Shelborne Wyndham Grand South Beach was still under renovation, and the eponymous restaurant Morimoto had yet to open.
This year the Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto once again played host, but it was officially his home. He jumped behind the Peking ducks and made sure that fun was peeking at every corner of this party.
Last night, this late night event got its rhythm and turned this South Beach poolside location into a hip Asian night market.
Around the hotel's pool, cabanas turned into food stands while a DJ spun beneath the diving board.
A favorite bite of the night was from the Tao Group, with restaurants in New York, Vegas and Sydney, a shrimp and lobster har gow sprinkled with paddlefish caviar.
Katsuya located at the neighboring SLS hotel served up a melt in your mouth wild mushroom dumpling.
When it came to buns, SushiSamba had their steamed buns squirted with squid ink and topped with Maine lobster and a lemongrass aioli.
Buns & Buns stuffed their steamed bun with bourbon glazed pork belly, slaw, a chicharron (because Miami) and garlic aioli for a mash-up of Asian, Latin, and American BBQ flavors.
The biggest line of the night and the boldest bowl imaginable was the super spicy char siu tonkotsu from Momi Ramen. It brought the heat for real and kept guests warm and slurping all night.
Former Top Cheftestant, Dale Talde rolled some delicious veggie sushi with spicy mushrooms and sunflower seeds for a light bite that you'd keep returning to all night.
Although, with no surprise, the real draw and star of the night was Morimoto who would have been happy to work on his Peking duck tacos but was ambushed by adorning fans who wanted selfies with the Iron Chef. He posed, he giggled, and he mixed it up with his guests all night.
Thankfully, his team never stopped breaking down duck and cranking out tacos.
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