One of the most exciting parts about visiting a chef’s tasting-style restaurant, aside from the food itself, is the knowledge that the entire experience has been meticulously curated from start to finish. One of our favorite omakase spots in Miami, for instance, serves its sake in the most delicate earthenware vessels, each with a different shape and handpainted pattern, no two the same.
Part of the thrill is the palpable feeling, illusion or not, that this space and moment have been choreographed just for you by a team of people who very much care how it all turns out. The best restaurants, in my opinion, are the ones that prioritize that human touch. Which is why I’m so intrigued by Amano by Oka, the forthcoming concept from chef Diego Oka and Gastón Acurio at the Mandarin Oriental, Miami.
Chef Oka has been at the helm of La Mar since it opened in 2014, pairing his flavorful, elevated Peruvian fusion cuisine with stunning views of Biscayne Bay and the Miami skyline. Now, he’s flexing a different artistic muscle as the team prepares to open a new tasting menu experience within the Brickell Key restaurant. The chef spent the last several months handcrafting over 400 pieces of ceramic tableware to accompany each of the eight dishes on his new tasting menu at Amano.
The restaurant’s name is a play on words, meaning “by hand” in Spanish. To prepare for the opening this October 17, Mandarin Oriental transformed one of its guest rooms into a pottery studio, where Chef Oka spent hundreds of hours bent over his wheel, designing, building and glazing each plate, vessel and utensil himself. He fired the liquid glass-finished pieces at a studio he rented in Ironside.
“With this different approach, every bite and every touch are harmonious; each element is crafted to complete and enhance the other,” says Oka. “I’ve been doing art for years that disappears in minutes; now, I am doing art in minutes that will last for years.”
The menu showcases the chef’s signature Nikkei style of cuisine, infusing Peruvian dishes with influences from China, Japan, Spain, Italy and beyond. For instance, La Papa course celebrates the 4,000 types of potatoes in Peru with a tray symbolizing the start of the Andes mountains and the region's agricultural richness and beauty, while the Pachamanca course adapts a traditional underground cooking technique by inviting guests to break through the soil to reveal quinoa tamales.
For the final course, guests will choose from a selection of beautifully handcrafted spoons to enjoy their dessert, El Asparrago. Then, each guest will receive a surprise memento to take home along with a gift of Peruvian pancakes to enjoy the next morning.
The offering begins at an introductory price of $210 per person, with an optional wine pairing that includes rare natural wines from Peru. Reservations for La Mar by Gastón Acurio’s AMANO by Oka tasting menu experience launch on October 17 and will be available three days a week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The intimate setting features just 20 seats.
Oka’s journey in pottery began around five years ago when he purchased a pottery wheel and taught himself the craft through online videos. “Beyond my passion for cooking, I've discovered that working with ceramics and clay has become a sanctuary for my thoughts—a way to clear my mind, find calm, and create a space where I can truly be at peace,” he says. “It's in these moments of shaping clay that I can silence the noise, reset, and let my mind go blank, allowing creativity and tranquility to flow naturally.”