Dining out in America has never been better. This past year the country secured an abundance of exemplary dining concepts: from Keiji Nakazawa’s ethereal traditional sushi at New York’s newly crowned Two MICHELIN Star Sushi Sho to Johnny Spero’s seafaring One MICHELIN Star Reverie comeback down in The District.
We were excited about many of these spots last year around this time, and now we’re eager to look ahead. So, what’s on the radar for our MICHELIN Guide Inspectors?
Right off the bat, 2025 offers a deeper dive into varied French fare, a new focus on tropical island cuisine and, well, sushi, which has been on fire for at least the last half decade. New York will land a counter from Kanazawa, Japan’s praised Sushidokoro Mekumi, and a new Japanese tasting menu concept from the popular New York-based Nami Nori temaki team who are branching out to Miami.
And, Swedish star Marcus Jernmark, who formerly ran Stockholm’s Three MICHELIN Star Frántzen, is ready to talk about his Los Angeles plans. Spoiler Alert: he’s opening not one, but two restaurants there.
There’s still more to come. Read on!
California
Jaca, Los Angeles
Over the restaurant’s 16-year Bay Area tenure, Chef Daniel Patterson’s elegant, white tablecloth Coi earned Three Michelin Stars, praised for its highly technical, minimalist dishes honoring seasonal California cooking. Since the restaurant closed two years back, the chef has since relocated to Los Angeles and teamed up with Chef Keith Corbin (co-owner of the city’s Alta Adams soul food restaurant) to introduce fine dining Jaca in the longstanding 2,500-square-foot Son of a Gun space on West Third Street in West Hollywood. Set to be unveiled late spring, Patterson—who will serve as executive chef—continues his style of refined contemporary California cooking in a mid-century modern-style space defined through light woods and 60s-inspired sunset tones conceived by Coi’s interior designer, New York-based Scott Kester. The chef promises high-level, ambitious cooking via a tasting menu that’s in the works. Angelenos seeking a more casual experience will have the option to drop by Jaca’s adjacent bar-lounge space for à la carte bites, or stop by the restaurant’s attached wine shop.
Lielle, Los Angeles
Two years ago when Marcus Jernmark moved to Los Angeles, he promised the city a restaurant. But as it turns out, the City of Angels is getting two. The Swedish-born chef—who formerly served as executive chef of Three MICHELIN Star Frántzen in Stockholm—has taken over the storied bi-level space at 9575 West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles’ Beverlywood neighborhood to introduce two concepts. First to open this summer on the building’s lower level will be Lielle, a roughly 35-seat Nordic-rooted restaurant that embraces California’s unbounding access to superior seasonal ingredients. Think unbuttoned fine dining rooted in minimalism and sophistication that leans into the backbone of New Nordic cooking: house ferments, wild foraged ingredients, and some natural wine. Jernmark has yet to share details on his second space perched above, which will debut several months later.
JouJou, San Francisco
From an underground dinner party in a clandestine warehouse 15 years ago to a substantial new, earthy-toned modern dining room, Chef David Barzelay and his wild foraged ingredient tasting menu at Two MICHELIN Star Lazy Bear have earned serious street cred over the years. Now he and business partner Colleen Booth are ready to announce their next concept, French-rooted JouJou, which will open this spring in the Design District at 65 Division Street. With an eye to seasonality and seafood, expect classic French dishes like oysters and frites, and King salmon with a rich, seafood-infused sauce Americaine. The 6,000-square-foot space will be equipped with myriad bells and whistles: a raw bar, a sunken garden dining area, a main dining area lined with semi-circle booths, and a glassed-in patio-lounge with a 12-seat bar and additional tables where Lazy Bear Beverage Director Jacob Brown will oversee seasonal, modern riffs on classic cocktails.
Florida
Matsuyoi, Miami
The team behind New York’s casual handroll mainstay Nami Nori is expanding to Miami with a new elevated concept this January. Matsuyoi will launch in the Design District, on the second floor of 156 NE 41st Street. The group’s new partner and advisor, musician Pharrell Williams, was a key player in bringing the concept to Miami. Nami Nori partner Taka Sakaeda will run the kaiseki-inspired 10-seat counter’s 10-course, $225 seasonal tasting menu, which will include bites like blue fin sashimi with green olives, Marcona almonds and finger limes, and Key lime ponzo-laced wagyu shabu shabu. Managing partner Lisa Limb designed the 1,500-square-foot space––which includes a 2,200-square-foot branch of Nami Nori on the ground floor––along with acclaimed New York-based design firm Modellus Novus. Think charred woods, black terracotta tiles, and moss green stools. In addition to the dining counter, the space will house a compact lounge with drinks like Indigo Blue made from forbidden black rice-infused rum, sake, and toasted rice syrup.
Mimi Chinese, Miami
Last year’s Young Chef Award Winner, Toronto-based David Schwartz and executive chef Braden Chong of Bib Gourmand Sunnys Chinese, are heading to the states. Next month they will unleash the second location of Mimi Chinese with a roughly 4,100-square-foot space in Miami Beach at 1575 Alton Rd. Celebrated for their creative interpretation of regional Chinese cuisine, Schwartz promises signature dishes like his steamed chili-laced sea bass and sesame-encrusted shrimp toast will make a return, alongside fresh additions like a beef rib steamed and roasted in a lotus leaf. They’ve tapped United Kingdom-based design firm Kayla Pongrac Studio to spearhead a space akin to the original with both traditional and modern elements defined through glossy red banquettes, a curved ceiling, and dim lighting. Expect a 10-seat bar with cocktails that rely on Chinese ingredients, such as a frothy oolong sour made with tea-infused bourbon.
New York
Kabawa & Bar Kabawa, East Village
Exciting news for the East Village’s former Momofuku Ko space on Extra Place: David Chang and his team are reimagining the iconic tasting menu destination as tropical tipples and small plates-focused Bar Kabawa, set to open in January, and prix-fixe Kabawa, following a few months later. Both spaces will highlight Caribbean cuisine, directed by longtime Momofuku group chef Paul Carmichael, who takes inspiration from his Barbados heritage and overall diversity of island cuisine.
Maison Passerelle, Financial District
This spring, when haute French retailer Printemps presents its first U.S. location at luxury skyscraper One Wall Street in the Financial District, in tow will come Maison Passerelle, the signature ground-floor restaurant from Top Chef alum Gregory Gourdet, in collaboration with Kent Hospitality Group. Known for his Haitian-rooted cooking at the lauded Kann in Portland, Oregon, Gourdet returns to his native New York with a modern, maximalist 2,400-square-foot space inspired by traditional French restaurants. The menu will give a new spin to classic French dishes accented with flavors from former French colonies, such as organic Haitian coffee chili and spice-rubbed dry aged New York strip steak. From the restaurant’s six-seat bar, guests will be able to try cocktails by Printemps bar director Natasha Bermudez who is working with Harrison Ginsberg of nearby acclaimed bar Overstory.
Sushi Mekumi, Hudson Square
Kanazawa’s acclaimed Sushidokoro Mekumi is coming to Charlton Street in Hudson Square this April. Led by Chef Takayoshi Yamaguchi, the sushi pioneer is known for blending traditional sushi craftsmanship with science; the chef works with researchers to observe how a fish’s diet impacts its fatty acid composition to determine a fish’s ideal aging period to enhance umami. His eight-seat counter will be helmed by his longtime sous chef Hajime Kumabe, who will serve an omakase featuring six appetizers and 10 pieces of nigiri. The restaurant will share a build out with Japanese cocktail den Bar Maeda, overseen by Yoshikatsu Maeda, a vet of Ginza’s iconic Mori Bar. Sushi counter guests will have the option to order classic cocktails from the bar, including Mori Bar’s famous gin martini stirred exactly 100 times.
Unnamed Hiroki Odo Projects
Kaiseki master Hiroki Odo of Flatiron’s Two MICHELIN Star Odo is planning his flagship project, which will unfold as two complementary Japanese restaurants in Hudson Yards. While both are yet to be named, the first is set to launch in September and will blend kaiseki and sushi in a 2,000- square-foot space with a cocktail bar. The chef has tapped Simplicity, the same Tokyo-based firm that behind Odo, to scheme this project, too.
Hero image: Daniel Neuhaus / MIMI Chinese
