Tasting Menu Restaurants Are Reshaping Orlando’s Culinary Landscape

When Ryan Ratino, chef and owner of two-Michelin-starred tasting counter Jônt in Washington D.C., announced this January he’d be opening a 16-seat, “experiential” offshoot — Ômo by Jônt — in Orlando’s Winter Park suburb, the news was expectedly met with plenty of excitement and anticipation. But a surprise, it was not.

Ratino, after all, was entering a marketplace vastly different than the one that existed when he moved to Orlando 15 years ago to attend Le Cordon Bleu. Back then, the city was overhauling its culinary image by freeing itself from the shackles of the “chain capital” designation and, to a lesser degree, Disney’s stranglehold. The culmination of that decades-long maturation, an effort overseen primarily by independent chefs and restaurateurs, thrust Orlando into the international spotlight and, in the process, left a trail of high-dollar chef’s counters in its wake.

When three rising chefs — Mark Berdin, Jennifer Berdin (née Banagale), and Lordfer Lalicon — opened Kappo, an intimate seven-seat chef’s table inside East End Market, in 2014, it kickstarted a movement. Since then, that correction in the market has only accelerated the proliferation of limited-capacity, multicourse dens of dining excess; in the last three years alone, Orlando has witnessed tasting menus sprout up in all corners of the city: Soseki in Winter Park; Foreigner Restaurant and Danilo’s Pasta Bar in Audubon Park; Camille in Baldwin Park; Nami in Lake Nona; Natsu in the North Quarter; and Norigami in Winter Garden. Naturally, the arrival of the Michelin Guide was a catalyst for some of these openings, and will very likely continue to spawn others so long as the guide continues to exist in Florida. In fact, a yet-to-be-named tasting counter concept has already been announced for the 4Roots Farm Campus, slated to open at the end of 2024 in Orlando’s newly minted Packing District.

The Berdins now operate Kadence, an 8-seat, minimalist sushi and sake bar in Audubon Park that’s garnered a Michelin star in each of the last two years that the guide has appeared in Florida, along with a James Beard semifinalist selection for the husband-and-wife pair.

Naturally, there are economic benefits to operating a small tasting counter compared to a traditional restaurant — lower rents, less overhead, greater control of food costs, and a better labor-to-revenue ratio. But for Mark Berdin, there are other distinct advantages: “There’s a lot more consistency since there are less variables to worry about,” he says. “We can control the food quality better since we’re the ones serving it. We cook the food and serve the food, minimizing anything that can get lost in translation through servers or other cooks.”

For Ratino, the tasting counter experience also allows him to interact with guests on a more personal level while relishing, as he puts it, the “bareness” of it all. “There’s nothing to hide behind, as the guests can see everything,” he says. “It keeps you honest and makes sure your eyes are sharp at all times. Plus, we can geek out on food.”

At Ômo, a name inspired by the Japanese ethos of omotenashi or “hospitality,” that geeked-out fare will come in 18 to 22 courses served in three different dining salons. The cost to experience Ômo, which opened on Thursday, March 7, is $245 (about the going rate for such experiences in the city), with pairing options at $190 and $595. Guests will initially be ushered into the “Living Room,” where they’ll snack on “a barrage of canapes” like foie gras doughnuts with pineapple and sesame and wagyu tarts with truffle dashi and onion. Dolled-up dishes like dry-aged kinki (rockfish) graced with caviar and Hokkaido uni with corn chawanmushi (steamed custard) will greet Ômo’s deep-pocketed diners at the “Savory Counter,” where the brunt of the meal is served. The service concludes in the “Pastry Parlor” with kakigori (shaved ice), Mont Blancs (chestnut cream desserts), soufflé tarts, and mignardises (small pastries).

Certainly, a level of expectation needs to be met when running a high-priced, limited-seat restaurant, whether it’s the interior design, caliber of service, or food creativity. But Sorekara, a nouveau Japanese concept by chef William Shen and James Beard-recognized restaurateurs Johnny and Jimmy Tung, will expose guests to a new dimension of dining out: metaphysics. “It’s one-of-a-kind,” says Johnny Tung about the multi-room venue that will immerse guests in the temporal philosophy of sorekara, which translates to “and then” in Japanese.

“People stop appreciating how important little moments are because of how fast our world moves,” says Shen about the philosophical premise behind the restaurant. “Sorekara taps into the idea that every moment that passes is unique unto itself.” His description is purposefully oblique; Shen would rather his guests experience Sorekara and all its nuances in the moment. Those nuances will demonstrate how Japanese cuisine evolves under the influence of numerous factors — from American culture to the culinary techniques of other world cuisines — all the while being mindful of Japanese tradition and, of course, sorekara.

“We’re just following nature, the most basic and sometimes forgotten aspect of our world, and time — moments that are unique unto their own. For example, we follow the ancient calendar of Japan, which consists of 72 micro seasons. So, the menu will change 72 times, or every 5 to 10 days. The changes will be subtle and transitional, just like the seasons. So, while the menu may be inspired by the seasons of Japan, it will find beauty in the seasons of Florida.” Shen wants guests to not only savor, literally and figuratively, every second of their 20-plus course meal (which is expected to last a few hours) but also think about the experience days or weeks after. “We want Sorekara to resonate with how you view time and life. We want Sorekara to be an impactful restaurant.”

At $275, with pairing options at $150 and $300, the meal will undoubtedly impact budgets, too. It’s no secret that most conceptual chef counter experiences in town cater to the well-heeled, deep-pocketed diner, but that’s not always the case. Danilo’s Pasta Bar, an eight-seat Filipino Italian counter by 2018 Eater San Diego Readers’ Choice Chef of the Year Danilo “DJ” Tangalin, offers an eight-course meal for $75, while at Norigami, chef David Tsan’s eight-seater that garnered a 2023 Michelin Bib Gourmand, 10 pieces of sushi, a hand roll and soup goes for a relative bargain at $65. Tasting counters have also become fixtures inside existing restaurants like Juju and Kabooki Sushi in Colonialtown, Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs, and, of course, Victoria & Albert’s inside Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, where the Chef’s Table experience goes for an eye-popping $425 with wine pairings starting at $210. And this being Orlando, the chef-run counters aren’t just relegated to the realms of French or Japanese cuisine; they reflect the city’s diverse restaurant landscape with many cuisines represented, including Vietnamese, Portuguese Brazilian, and Korean cuisines.

“It makes the experience of dining out unique and special,” says Tung, who, along with his brother, has a vested interest in many of the city’s tasting menu concepts. “By paring down the number of seats, we can serve a greater range of styles, offer higher quality ingredients, and pay greater attention to detail and service.”