Chef Raheem Sealey believes that Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood speaks to him as a person. The district, a haven for artists and bursting with tempting eateries, is where Sealey’s career took off since opening KYU in 2016 with owners Michael Lewis and Steven Haigh.
Shiso’s graffiti-infused design is a response to its location in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood
The neighborhood boasts blocks of colorful graffiti, and when stepping inside Sealey’s newest project, Shiso, Wynwood’s impact is apparent. Splashed across the restaurant—from thick columns by the bar to the restrooms—are distinct murals reminiscent of walking along the streets of Wynwood. The graffiti, according to Sealey, is the cornerstone of Shiso’s design, which was crafted by Cleveland-based House of L Designs.
“We wanted to take some of the art that’s outside and bring it inside, but we wanted to make it look like it’s meant to be there—not like we’re forcing it,” he says. “The graffiti was step one, and then we worked around that based on the things we needed to make [it] stand out.”
Before he opened Shiso and led the kitchen at KYU, Sealey studied at Le Cordon Bleu and cut his teeth at Pao and Zuma. But his culinary identity originated on St. Croix, where his grandparents shared their love for cooking with Sealey when he was young. The budding chef took on the heavy lifting in the kitchen to help his grandmother, like mashing dense potatoes and mixing big pots of macaroni and cheese for the family to eat.
Some of these early dishes have been translated into Shiso’s menu. “Everything I grew up eating, I’m bringing into what we’re doing now,” he says. “My family is my inspiration to keep pushing the way that I push and keep going as far as I do.”
The newly opened Shiso combines wood-fired barbecue with Japanese and Caribbean influences to create bold flavor pairings fit for the eclectic neighborhood.
With shared dishes filling the menu, Sealey equates Shiso’s dining experience to that of a Thanksgiving meal: a big spread of various foods for everyone to take a little bit of everything. “Dining is about being able to go somewhere where you can have different dishes that speak to everyone,” he says, “and that’s what my menu is based on.”
Oversized chandeliers hang above the bar area at Shiso
With views of the city skyline, Shiso’s rooftop is an elevated escape
This article originally appeared in HD’s April 2025 issue.
