KYU

KYU opened in February 2016, when Wynwood was still galleries and warehouses and had nowhere to eat properly. Michael Lewis, who had run the kitchen at Zuma, built the whole menu around a wood-fired grill — sharing plates, Asian technique, everything touched by smoke. It changed what the neighbourhood expected of itself, and much of what opened in Wynwood afterwards is downstream of it.

The room closed in late 2022 after storm damage and has since reopened. Order the smoked short rib and the roasted cauliflower, sit at the counter if the dining room is booked, and go early — it fills.

If you want the same technique in a different register. MILA on Meridian crosses the Mediterranean with Japan rather than working a single Asian idiom, and does it on a rooftop rather than in a warehouse. Both kitchens are built on fire and sharing; the difference is what surrounds the table.

The kitchen that gave Wynwood a reason to stay for dinner.