After leading the kitchen at Kyu Miami and running the barbecue spot Drinking Pig, chef Raheem Sealey now steps out with Shiso, an Asian smokehouse opening on Friday, March 28, in Wynwood. One of New Times’ 7 Most Anticipated Miami Restaurants Opening This Spring, the restaurant will fuse Caribbean, Japanese, and wood-fired barbecue flavors.
Founded in partnership with Forward Hospitality Group, the new smokey Asian fusion spot will be located at 239 NW 28th St. in the heart of Wynwood. Before opening Shiso, Sealey developed his passion for cooking in the kitchens of St. Croix’s resorts. He later worked through some of the city’s top restaurants, including Pao and Zuma, and trained at Le Cordon Bleu Miami. “Shiso means a lot to me. It’s an opportunity that came to me at the right time in my career,” Sealey says. “It reflects my culinary inspirations and how they’ve impacted me at different times in my life.”
From Fried Chicken to Barbecue Smoked Brisket Nigiri
The menu goes beyond the usual Asian fusion suspects with his meant-to-be-shared menu. The split-personality “Shiso Chicken Please” serves Cornish hen two ways on one plate — half smoked with charred edges, half fried to a golden crisp — then hits it with tangy white barbecue sauce. At the same time, the “Oxtail Gunkan” wraps smoked barbecue oxtail with pickle relish and rice in nori paper, topped with jus and panko. Other standouts include smoked sticky ribs with barbecue sauce and puff rice furikake, and an oxtail udon noodle dish with braised oxtail, jus, and cured egg yolk.
The sushi program features hand rolls, nigiri, and gunkan (a type of sushi where a small amount of sushi rice is wrapped in nori to form a boat-shaped base, which is then topped with various ingredients). Options include toro with uni, barbecue smoked brisket nigiri, and barbecue short rib gunkan. Cold plates include scallop crudo with warm salami miso vinaigrette and sliced hamachi with strawberry ponzu…