NOAH Hospitality Group has just unveiled UKIYO at 818 Lincoln Road, set to debut next month, built around a custom-designed kaiten, the Japanese tradition of circulating sushi past diners on a rotating conveyor belt. UKIYO reimagines the format through exceptional Japanese craftsmanship and live culinary theater, bringing Tokyo's tradition to Lincoln Road for the first time.
The name comes from the Japanese idea of "ukiyo," the floating world, and the restaurant is built to take that literally. The belt sits at the center of the 7,431-square-foot room as its architectural centerpiece, and nothing on it is meant to feel static.
New dishes leave the sushi counter as choreographed presentations, live culinary performances run through dinner service, and a House Dumpling Cart circulates the dining room with a changing lineup of handmade beef, pork, chicken, shrimp and vegetarian dumplings, pan-fried, steamed or deep-fried. "For me, hospitality has never been about simply serving food. It's about creating emotion," said NOAH Hospitality Group founder Philippe Kalifa.
The kitchen is led by Executive Chef Nono Shigetomi, who sources fish from Tokyo's Toyosu and Tsukiji markets and pantry staples directly from Japan, with seasonal South Florida produce filling in around them. "Freshness isn't our goal, it's our starting point," Shigetomi said. The belt carries nigiri, sashimi and specialty rolls, headlined by the signature Ukiyo roll of tuna, salmon, hiramasa and Hokkaido scallop finished with soy-glazed wagyu and umami crunch.
Off the belt, the menu widens into fire-charred robata skewers, a paitan ramen built on long-simmered chicken bone broth and layered with braised duck, sous vide chicken, pork chashu and pork wonton, a crispy yakisoba finished in ankake sauce, and a seafood fried rice made with seasoned takikomi gohan rather than plain steamed rice. Kamameshi arrives cooked tableside in individual kama pots with dashi, soy, sake, mirin, hijiki, carrot and mushroom, topped with grilled marinated skirt steak and a Jidori egg.
Casa Medina Design Studio handled the interiors, pairing Rosso Lepanto stone and leathered emerald marble with handcrafted millwork, aged brass and lantern lighting, threaded through with a flowing water feature that carries the floating-world theme into the room itself. Outside, a second dining environment layers lighting, landscape and water so that each table reads as its own setting.
UKIYO will serve dinner Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 6 p.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m.