This new eatery is the extension, and neighbor, of the long standing South Beach nightclub Mynt both of which are run by managing partner Romain Zago. With the opening of Myn-Tu this past November in the former Rokbar space, Zago entered the food game while sticking to the spirit of his original venture: live DJs and drinks.
Inside the 2,500-square-foot space, a stretch of bar leads to an 80-seat dining room with white leather booths and LED-framed rose gold mirrors that create walls of light and motion.
Miami New Times wrote that Zago oversaw every detail of the year-and-a-half development. "We are targeting a high-end clientele that comes to Miami for a whole experience," he says. He made Mynt's doorman José Leonardo a junior partner at the eatery as a reward for his 17-year loyalty to the club. "Mynt is almost a concierge vision, and after 17 years of hearing clients talk about how they went to a place and liked the party but hated the food and vice versa, I decided to give them the whole package. Now they can start the night at Myn-Tu and easily transition to the fun at Mynt."
Zago and his vision and the story of Mynt and Myn-Tu are interesting, in fact World Red Eye did a whole interview with him recently which is a good read and is full of lots of great photos. But we are also really interested in the food story, how it relates to real estate and the area, right?!?
So... helming Myn-Tu's kitchen are executive chef Merryl Villacorta and Seiya Noborikawa, a sushi master with experience in restaurants such as Nobu, Blue Ribbon, and Sugarcane. The open kitchen in the dining room allows guests to watch while the chefs prepare a global menu combining Japanese and Vietnamese flavors with a French flair.
The lineup of starters includes crispy rice caviar with maguro or sake, spicy aioli, and Kaluga caviar ($28); sea bass caramelo skewers marinated in sake miso ($24); and exotic mushroom tempura ($22).
South Beach is coming through a transition phase and the expansion of Mynt to add Myn-Tu is another good sign of upscale establishments staying in the area. It will be interesting to see if this is another example of dinner lounge locations being the successful trend. At least Zago has the market covered with both a nightclub and lounge!