there is no doubt that naoe is one of the best small-table omakase style restaurants within a thousand miles of miami. naoe is led by chef kevin cory, whose path to success began at age 19 under the tutelage of kyoto-based executive chef nobuo kase. after living in toyama and being trained by his highly revered uncle, uashushi naoe, he moved to miami to continue proving himself further. in 2009, after years and years of preparation, he finally opened naoe. the attention to detail is apparent from the start as you’re greeted by name and shown to your 8-person seating. the courses that followed ranged from so-so to astounding, resulting in an impressive yet slightly underwhelming evening considering all of the positive reviews we had read previously. naoe is very much in the upper echelon ofsushirestaurants, but needs minor improvements to be truly amazing.