Two of Miami and West Palm Beach's most decorated chefs are joining forces to bring a bold new concept to the Flamingo Park District. APM Restaurant Group is opening Niwa, Japanese for "garden," at 523 Park Place this October, pairing Chef Masayuki Komatsu of Michelin-starred Ogawa with Chef Osmel González of Emelina, directly across the street from González's own restaurant.
It's also the first time two of APM's Michelin-starred chefs have cooked on the same menu. Chef Masayuki Komatsu, the Osaka-born sushi chef behind Ogawa, now in its third consecutive year holding a star, is pairing his Edomae technique with Chef Osmel González, the Cuban-born chef at Emelina, which became the first Cuban restaurant in history to earn a Michelin star this past May. Niwa is also the first time the group has deliberately folded Latin flavor into its Japanese cooking, a restaurant built from the ground up for this city — arriving under a new name, too: what the group first announced as Midorie is opening instead as Niwa.
The menu runs on Komatsu's sourcing and structure, with fish flown in directly from Tokyo's Toyosu Fish Market, the same supplier behind Ogawa's omakase counter. González's contribution shows up as ingredient and technique, not garnish: mojo-marinated wagyu, guarapo, smoked chili oil, citrus worked through raw preparations that stay unmistakably Japanese in form.
A few dishes give a sense of where that meeting lands. Madai Usuzukuri pairs thinly sliced Japanese sea bream with yuzu kosho, ponzu, and ikura. Key Lime Somen sets cold noodles in dashi broth against sliced Florida key lime. Steamed black cod comes with guarapo, negi, turnips, and smoked chili oil, and blue crab hand rolls use Florida blue crab with citrus mayo.
An Una-Ju plate of charcoal-grilled eel over rice rounds out a rice program that also includes chirashi and donburi, and when it's in season, Florida stone crab appears with Japanese mustard and sweet miso. Guests can also order the Omakase Plate, a chef's selection of nigiri and sushi presented at once, built for a fast lunch as easily as a slow dinner.
The garden in the name is literal. Niwa will have an outdoor tea garden, a genuine rarity in South Florida dining, running a tea program developed with Miami tea specialist JoJo Tea, meant to bookend the meal from a pre-dinner ceremony through post-meal quiet. Inside, the space carries the same architectural language as APM's Miami restaurants, flowing forms, Japanese lanterns, ceramic-lined shelving, and a large-scale commissioned piece from founder Álvaro Pérez Miranda's Blackship Gallery roster, but in a different register: walnut wood and soft celadon green in place of Midorie's lighter Miami palette, with forest-green banquettes and walnut wishbone chairs. The room seats 20.
For Pérez Miranda, the restaurant closes a loop that started with Emelina. "I have dedicated myself to building the most authentic, uncompromising Japanese fine dining in Miami," he said. "But I am Venezuelan. Latin flavor is in my blood, and I have always wondered what would happen if I let it into the room. Emelina was the first answer, and it earned a Michelin star. Now Osmel and Masa are sitting at the same table, and Niwa is what happens when those two worlds finally meet."
Niwa joins the Flamingo Park District, which has become one of the most talked-about restaurant rows in West Palm Beach. Curated by Gregory Welteroth, the district's quickly growing food list currently includes Emelina, Steak Shop, the farm-to-table butcher and grocer from the team behind Fern and the soon-to-open Rueshaw, and Loot, the neighborhood's organic grocer. Pumphouse is also adding to the mix too, opening a sourdough donut concept next door in spring 2027.