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<\/p>\nAlex Chamberlain will serve as the executive chef of a new dining concept planned for downtown St. Petersburg. Currently, he is Chef de Cuisine at the Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant K\u014dsen in Tampa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It will be called Mei.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chamberlain said that the venture, at 320 3rd Street S., is expected to open in May. K\u014dsen owners\u00a0Johnny and Jimmy Tung are also involved in the project. It will replace Bento Asian Kitchen + Sushi, which closed this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 2,700-square-foot Mei will feature French technique, Nordic ethos and Japanese ingredients. Benjamin Coutts, who won the 2023 Michelin Guide Florida Sommelier award, will lead the restaurant\u2019s beverage program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Chamberlain grew up in south Tampa, he decided to move to Denver, Colorado to advance his culinary career. The first restaurant the chef worked at in the area, Tables, was a \u201cneighborhood French bistro.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He would eventually become sous chef at the Michelin-starred Beckon, which has a 18 seat chef\u2019s counter. After leaving the Scandinavian-inspired concept, Chamberlain returned to Tampa and began to work at K\u014dsen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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A rendering of Mei\u2019s dining area. Image provided.<\/p>\n
Chamberlain is Taiwanese through his father. K\u014dsen executive chef Andrew Huang was born in Taiwan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like a sense of family and understanding with him,\u201d Chamberlain explained. \u201cI got to learn a little bit more about my culture. The way Andrew thinks about food is very similar to how I grew up with my grandmother\u2019s cooking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mei will be a \u201cculmination\u201d of Chamberlain\u2019s career experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will have an eight seat chef\u2019s counter that will be really focused on foraged produce as well as local ingredients,\u201d he said. \u201cThis calls back to my time at Beckon. It will also have a Japanese pantry, which calls back to my time at K\u014dsen.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mei\u2019s main dining area, \u201cthe Living Room,\u201d will have approximately 50 to 55 seats and feature an \u00e0 la carte menu. Chamberlain\u2019s goal is to create a shared experience in a \u201chomey\u201d environment. In fact, the space will be designed based on his own living room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI really wanted to showcase the hospitality driven nature of restaurants that I experienced in Colorado,\u201d he added. \u201cHaving Jimmy and Johnny\u2019s support was not something that I expected to have this early on, but it\u2019s exciting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The project is very personal for Chamberlain. Mei is his sister\u2019s middle name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been a pretty big influence in my life especially as far as restaurants go,\u201d Chamberlain explained. \u201cI ended up adopting her when she was 16. So, she came out and lived with me in Colorado. Nearly every restaurant that I worked at in Colorado, we ended up working at together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Construction on the venture should be completed in the coming weeks. Chamberlain and his team will then begin setting up the space.\u00a0<\/p>\n