9 Restaurants That Delight the Senses

Uchiko, Miami Beach

From James Beard Award-winning chef Tyson Cole and Hai Hospitality comes Uchiko’s newest location in Miami Beach. Situated in the city’s trendy Sunset Harbour neighborhood, this 5,380-square-foot restaurant is a poetic fusion of tropical Brutalism and Japanese deco elegance. The team at New York-based Islyn Studio, in collaboration with Hai Hospitality, crafted a warm, inviting oasis inspired by textures and materials of the nearby marina. “We wanted to create a welcoming escape for our guests—an elevated experience that feels effortless yet extraordinary, and one of a kind,” says Ellen Saathoff, director of design at Hai Hospitality. A mix of raw textures—such as exposed concrete embedded with hand-pressed shells—meets softer, refined touches like sea-green marble mosaics and aubergine-tiled bathrooms. Indeed, artistry and craftsmanship take center stage, with a raffia and coconut fiber-wrapped host stand—crafted by local Miami artist Elan Byrd—creating a tactile bridge between Uchiko and its sister restaurant Uchi in Wynwood. Meanwhile, the 12-seat private dining room boasts a hand-stitched patchwork tapestry by Anastasia Lindahl, Hai Hospitality’s director of reservations. A luminous bar serves as a bold visual anchor, a favorite detail of Ashley Wilkins, founder and creative director of Islyn Studio: “The way the light hits the glass block bar at golden hour is like watching the sun dance on water.”

Photo by William Jess Laird