Now home to luxury restaurants, Miami’s Edgewater gets a new, glamorous Asian spot

An Italian entrepreneur and a Venezuelan chef are bringing a luxurious new Asian restaurant to Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood.

On Dec. 9, Iko Miami opens, joining such upscale spots as the Italian restaurant Casadonna from Groot Hospitality, which opened last fall, and crab leg destination Klaw, both at the historic Miami Women’s Club.

Born in Caracas, with experience across Panama, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and the United States, chef Guillermo Gassan will highlight neurogastronomy — the art and science of how our brain perceives food through our senses — on the menu.

You’ll find nigiri and sashimi, tartares and marinated raw menu items, among them tuna tartare, with a Venezuelan influence (it’s served with toasted corn arepas with truffle and parmesan).

There’s also a salmon belly in lychee sauce; octopus in paprika reduction; lobster in truffle butter and hamachi with citrus and cilantro oil.

Gassan even creates the sushi rolls with a twist, like the Alaska roll, which features salmon marinated in yuzu and lemon zest, finished with gold flakes and ikura.

“In each dish, I aim to capture the essence of Japan’s rich culinary heritage while bringing in a touch of exoticism,” he said. “At Iko Miami, it’s not just about great food. It’s about creating an experience that resonates with our guests from the first moment to the last bite.”

Iko Miami also features what it calls a “wagyu bar,” which lets diners cook wagyu selections on a hot stone at their table. The idea is to tweak the senses of touch as well as smell. The sense of sight gets in on the game, too: Guests are given a glass bottle of spicy gold dust that is set on fire tableside and the paper burns away. Then the diners can adjust the spice to their liking.

The restaurant’s design is minimalist, with black and gold velvet chairs, an open kitchen and a five-seat bar for the sushi lovers. Local artists Julian and Raul Garcia from Murals Miami created an eye-catching mural of a hand reaching upward (toward its goals, apparently) amid bonsai trees and Japanese calligraphy.

Iko Miami

Where: 75 NE 16th St., Miami

Hours: 5-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 5 p.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday

More information: ikomiami.com or 786-375-9770