In Florida, Schulson goes splashy, Federal Donuts and Dizengoff on the way
It's built around an open robatayaki kitchen; there's a 15-seat sushi bar and a private room overlooking the ocean and a "secret" karaoke room in the back.
Michael Schulson, fresh off two high-profile Philadelphia restaurant openings in the last year and a half (Double Knot, Harp & Crown), has gone to south Florida for his latest project.
Monkitail, in the Diplomat Beach Resort, north of Miami in Hollywood, also returns him to the Japanese bar (izakaya) concept. In 2008, his first solo effort was Izakaya at the Borgata in Atlantic City.
Online reviews are leaning toward the "wow!" side, with attention being called to the $65 tasting menu. Food-wise it's similar to Double Knot and Izakaya.
Monkitail is intended as a play on Japanese and English terms – monki is monkey in Japanese and the restaurant was conceived in 2016, the year of the monkey. Also, in Japanese folklore, the monkey was the sacred mediator between the gods and humans. And, says Schulson's wife and partner, Nina Tinari-Schulson, "it speaks to the more playful and secretly lively side of the restaurant"- as in the "secret" karaoke room in the back.
Next up for Schulson: Giuseppe & Sons, a South Philly-style Italian with the Termini family on the 1500 block of Sansom next to Harp & Crown.
While we're talking about Miami:
Michael Solomonov and partners are planning 305-area-coders for Dizengoff, the hummus spot, and Federal Donuts, the doughnut/fried chicken specialist. The location is 250 N.W. 24th St. in the Wynwood Arts District, around the corner from Panther Coffee and Coyo Taco. They're due online later this month.