This award-winning chef closed her Miami restaurant. Here’s what’s replacing it
When news of the closing of Valerie Chang’s Peruvian restaurant Maty’s was announced in Midtown, Miami diners were stunned. The restaurant, which had opened in 2023 and was named for her grandmother, was named one of the best new restaurants of the year by Bon Appétit magazine.
It also helped earn Chang a James Beard Award in 2024, making her the first Miami chef to win one in 14 years. And Maty’s was special in another way, too: It housed her brother Nando’s Michelin-starred omakase counter Itamae Ao, which was also forced to close.
Now, there’s a sign on the former Maty’s indicating that another popular Miami brand will be moving into the space: Motek, the Mediterranean restaurant that opened in the Seybold Building during the 2020 pandemic that has gone on to build something of an empire across the county.
With more locations opening over the past several years in Aventura, Boca Raton, Brickell, Coral Gables, Miami Beach and most recently in the former site of Prime Fish on South Beach, Motek has earned a devoted following. The brand has also recently opened its first restaurant in New York, with five more planned around the city.
The brand also opened Yalla, a fast-casual counter a at the Aventura Mall food hall and Sesame Bakery in North Miami, which specializes in European and Israeli-inspired pastries. Representatives from Motek confirmed that the space where Itamae Ao used to be will now be the second outpost of their Sesame Bakery concept.
“Sesame Bakery was conceived from a need to bake our own bread and dedicate a space entirely to this craft,” owner Charlie Levy explains on the Motek website.
The Motek restaurants are best known for hummus, kebabs, shakshuka, hot and cold mezzes, baby lamb chops and — most importantly, if you ask us — its crispy chicken schnitzel sandwiches, one of the best sandwiches in Miami.
The restaurant also earned the distinction of winning the People’s Choice Award at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival’s Burger Bash two years in a row with its Arayes Burger, a savory blend of Lebanese-style lamb and beef mixed with lots of herbs.
When it won in 2023, co-owner Tessa Levy told the Miami Herald she was thrilled with both victories but aware that the famous burger was only part of Motek’s repertoire (and not its most important part).
“The burger went viral and got us a lot of buzz,” she said. “But we’re not a burger joint. We’re far from it. We have a cultured, inspired menu. Everything is authentic to Israel and its surrounding countries.”
Representatives from Motek said the opening will be sometime this fall.
This story was originally published September 3, 2025 at 11:28 AM.