Inside the Kitchen: Seven Questions with Chef Shingo Akikuni of Shingo

Growing up in Osaka and training in Tokyo shaped Shingo Akikuni into the chef he is today. As the chef and owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant Shingo in Miami, he’s meticulous and precise in every move behind his 14-seat omakase counter. While he may appear serious as he serves 18 courses of perfectly executed sushi, he’s quietly filled with butterflies—hoping each guest feels seen, welcomed, and moved by the experience. His dream is to one day be admired the way his grandfather was: as a great chef and a respected leader.

Amber Love Bond

5 Minute read

14 Jul 2025

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Credit: Salar Abduaziz

Growing up in Osaka and training in Tokyo shaped Shingo Akikuni into the chef he is today. As the chef and owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant Shingo in Miami, he’s meticulous and precise in every move behind his 14-seat omakase counter. While he may appear serious as he serves 18 courses of perfectly executed sushi, he’s quietly filled with butterflies—hoping each guest feels seen, welcomed, and moved by the experience. His dream is to one day be admired the way his grandfather was: as a great chef and a respected leader.

What Is Your Deserted Island Meal?

Steamed white rice topped with really good Korean barbecue short rib. It’s simple and perfect.

What’s Your Most Poignant Food Memory?

I think most of my best food memories involve my grandfather. When I was a kid, he would always come back from trips with a Wagyu cutlet sandwich for me. It would have this demi-gloss sauce that was so good.

My grandfather was a restaurant owner, and I always loved seeing how respected he was in the neighborhood. He was always recognized, and people would call him Taisho—which in Japanese basically means “Boss.” He was really looked up to as someone who was prominent in the community because of the restaurant he owned, and that was something I’ve always wanted to live up to.

What Does Fine Dining Mean to You?

Fine dining for me is all about the feeling I get. I always go into the experience with butterflies in my stomach in anticipation of what’s to come. I love the feeling I get when I’m about to enjoy a really good meal. It's the same feeling I have when I’m serving my own dishes to our guests. I go into each service with that same butterfly-in-the-stomach feeling because I want to make the meal personal and extremely special for every single guest.

Having only 14 seats at Shingo means we really can make the experience something that’s personalized for each guest. It’s all about looking at the little details and really putting your best self forward with the service element.

What Are Your Restaurant Goals or Dreams?

My goal for the restaurant is to really make it the best sushi restaurant in the United States. And as far as my personal goals as a chef, I just want to keep learning and growing—to keep pushing myself, learning new things, and improving my techniques. The result of that is pushing the restaurant forward as well.

What’s On Your Restaurant Bucket List to Visit?

In Japan, there’s a sushi restaurant named Sugita that I’m dying to visit. I also really want to go to Asador Etxebarri in San Sebastián. We’re headed there in a few weeks and really hoping we can score a reservation.

What Is Your Food/Cooking Philosophy?

I think it’s really important to let great ingredients speak for themselves. They deserve center stage, so I try not to manipulate things too much. I’d rather focus on using great ingredients and letting them shine in a simple but delicious way. As a chef, I want to never stop learning and perfecting my techniques.

What's Your Comfort Food?

My ultimate comfort food is Japanese curry rice—in its most classic form, made with just onions, carrots, potatoes, and beef.

The Chef

Shingo Akikuni is a fourth-generation sushi chef from Osaka, Japan, known for his meticulous technique and reverence for tradition. At his namesake restaurant, Shingo, in Coral Gables, he offers a multi-course Japanese tasting rooted in Edomae principles. The experience unfolds at a custom-built, 14-seat counter and features fish flown in several times a week from Japan.

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