Both Sushi Saint and Zaru secured Bib Gourmand debuts ahead of the 2024 MICHELIN Guide announcement next week. “We are delighted to announce the addition of Streetlight Taco, Sushi Saint, Tam Tam and Zaru to the selection of Bib Gourmand restaurants in Florida,” said Gwendal Poullennec, the International Director of the MICHELIN Guides. “These restaurant selections prepare bold specialties with precision and intentionality, all at an excellent value. Our inspectors delighted in the impressive flavors and are confident that foodies – both local and from afar – will too.”
What Is A Bib Gourmand Restaurant?
Bib Gourmand restaurants offer a meal of good quality at a good value.
Sushi Saint
Sushi Saint serves a curated menu of small bites and nori hand rolls alongside sake-based cocktails and in-house brewed craft beers in a fresh, intimate atmosphere. The beer comes from its partners at The Brew Theory, which brews their beers out back and even helps with brewing for other local brands like Ivanhoe Park Brewing.
Rolls cost anywhere between $6 and $25 depending on the protein, which ranges from snow crab to Kobe beef. The product is something simple but beautiful to look at that really showcases the ingredients without being too precious or pretentious.
Here’s what MICHELIN had to say about Sushi Saint:
Mike Collantes, Chef/owner of Soseki, has another hit on his hands with Sushi Saint. Attached to a brewery but with a separate entrance, this downtown temaki spot lures guests with its lounge-y vibe and contemporary design. The team take great care in sourcing high-quality rice and nori for their cone-shaped temaki, and while the hand rolls take center stage, their small plates, like Sichuan cucumbers with chili crunch, are worth trying. From the avocado with serrano lime miso to aburi-style scallop with brown butter to shredded snow crab with truffle, cucumber, and finger lime, the temaki offerings are impressive.
Zaru
A new Japanese udon shop that opened in August 2023, Zaru is a 25-seat dining concept located in the under-redevelopment Tien Hung Market in the Mills 50 District at 1114 E. Colonial Drive. It’s a new effort by James Beard-recognized restaurateurs Jimmy and Johnny Tung.
“We wanted to carry on the 500-year-old noodle-making tradition,” says Johnny Tung. “Traveling throughout Japan earlier this year, I loved how the udon tasted there, and wanted to bring that experience back to Florida. We’re sourcing premium udon flour and working with a local Japanese company for custom equipment from the Kagawa region.”
Michelin gave Zaru a nod for its “upbeat playlist,” “attractive dining room” and its “chewy noodles” made with wheat sourced from Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture.
They’re open daily for lunch and dinner but they don’t take reservations so your best bet to score a table is to get there a bit early. Obviously, the star of the show is the udon noodles, served both cold and hot, but don’t sleep on the miso-fried chicken or dumplings.
Here’s what MICHELIN had to say about Zaru:
This sleek Mills 50 eatery is located in the same strip as the Tien Hung Market. With an upbeat playlist and an attractive dining room, Chef William Shen specializes in chewy noodles made from wheat sourced from Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture. Ikura, tempura and top-notch ingredients like Hokkaido uni and A5 Kagoshima wagyu pair with broths of wonderful smokiness and depth. Starters like tatsuta-age (fried chicken) and yaki gyoza (pork dumplings) are familiar and reliable, but consider opting for the ikura onsen, which features a softly poached egg crowned with crispy garlic. Either way, expect precision and intentionality across the board by the team that’s happy to guide you.