Mei is slated to open in downtown St. Petersburg this spring.<\/p>\n
The concept \u201cbrings together French technique, Nordic ethos, and Japanese ingredients,\u201d according to a news release.<\/p>\n
Expect in-house fermentation, koji aging (rapid dry-aging using mold) and Japanese binchotan grilling blended with Nordic open-hearth techniques.<\/p>\n
With two dining formats, Mei will offer a communal experience with a la carte options and an optional prix fixe menu in the living room, and an eight-seat kitchen counter with a chef-guided tasting menu.<\/p>\n
Alex Chamberlain has been tapped to be the executive chef.<\/p>\n
Chamberlain was previously the chef de cuisine at Michelin-starred Tampa restaurant Kosen. Benjamin Coutts, a Michelin Guide Florida 2023 sommelier award winner, will lead the beverage program.<\/p>\n
Mei is backed by Orlando-based restaurateurs Johnny and Jimmy Tung, whose portfolio includes the forthcoming Tokyo Swim Club in Ybor City, Tanto and Kosen in Tampa Heights.<\/p>\n
\u201cChef Alex has done a tremendous job elevating the guest experiences at both Kosen and Tanto,\u201d said Johnny Tung in the release. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to give him this opportunity in St. Petersburg where the food scene is coming alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mei is named for Chamberlain\u2019s sister and reflects the influence she had on his cooking and his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cFocusing on locality and foraging, along with preservation, Mei is a kitchen celebrating Florida, and a restaurant celebrating genuinely warm hospitality,\u201d Chamberlain said in the release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mei is slated to open in downtown St. Petersburg this spring. The concept \u201cbrings together French technique, Nordic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[101743,101744,97716,596,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-225386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-japonese-binchotan-grilling","tag-kosen","tag-mei","tag-pinellas-county","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}