MIAMI
Chef Nando Chang Brings Itamae Back to Life with Residency at Maty's
Credit: Daniel Zuliani
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By Eric Barton | April 10, 2025
By now you’ve probably been to Maty’s, Valerie Chang’s Peruvian ode to her grandmother that every food magazine in the country has drooled over.
But starting today, the Maty’s kitchen will be turned over to her brother Nando Chang for a temporary resurrection of the original Itamae, the one that built a cult following around buttery nigiri, smoky fish collars, and whatever experimentation the Changs were doing with bananas and scallops.
"I'm so excited to throw it back to Itamae's roots with this takeover,” Nando Chang told me. “Expect to see old favorites with some new additions that we can't wait to share."
Credit: Michael Pisarri
Credit: Eva Kolenko
For the residency, Nando’s bringing back some of the OG hits: bañaditos, makis, nigiris, and a raw bar that looks like it was styled by a food stylist who only works in Technicolor. You’ll see greatest hits like the bigfin reef squid tiradito, banana scallop nigiri, and the fish collar anticucho pictured below—which, if you’ve never had it, is basically grilled umami on a bone you’ll want to gnaw down to splinters.
Credit: Ruben Cabrera
The Itamae pop-up will run dinner 5-10 on Wednesday through Saturday. There’s happy hour from 5-7 and lunch from noon to 6 on Sundays. Reservations can be made here. Officially it’ll continue until mid-May, but I hear it’s been so well received, it may continue.
Itamae AO, the tasting-menu version next door to Maty’s, isn’t going anywhere. That’s still your spot for the more buttoned-up, omakase-style vibe where the dishes are very much an experimentation into what’s possible. But this popup is Itamae unbuttoned, back in its a la carte form, the way Miami first fell for the Changs’ brand of Nikkei cooking.
Credit: Ruben Cabrera
As for Maty’s? It’ll take a brief pause while Valerie lets her brother play with the toys. And if this sounds like a family reunion you’d want a seat at, you’re not alone.
Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who splits his time between Asheville and Miami. He’s on a constant hunt for the best pizza, best places to bike, and for his next new favorite destination. Email him here.
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