Michelin-Starred Team Behind Shingo Opens New Coral Gables Café

• Shingo founders are opening a new Japanese café concept called Stand in Coral Gables.
• The 24-seat café will officially open on June 4 along Miracle Mile.
• Chef Shingo Akikuni and partner Kenzie Motai are bringing Japanese café culture and convenience-inspired dining to South Florida.

What Stand Will Bring to Coral Gables

The team behind Michelin-starred omakase restaurant Shingo is expanding into a more casual dining concept with the launch of Stand, a new Japanese café opening in Coral Gables. Located at 98 Miracle Mile, the 24-seat café will focus on Japanese comfort food, specialty drinks, and Tokyo-inspired café culture. The project marks a major shift from the intimate fine-dining omakase experience that originally made Chef Shingo Akikuni nationally recognized. Instead of high-end sushi tastings, Stand is designed as a more approachable neighborhood destination centered around breakfast, lunch, pastries, and grab-and-go style offerings.

What the Café Menu Will Include

The menu leans heavily into Japanese café staples and convenience-store-inspired comfort food. Guests can expect housemade milk bread, Japanese egg salad sandwiches known as sandos, onigiri, bento boxes, pastries, and specialty matcha sourced directly from Japan. One of the signature menu items is expected to be the café’s shio pan — a buttery Japanese bread roll offered in rotating sweet and savory flavors, including cream, chocolate, curry, and sausage-filled variations. The café will also serve single-origin coffee sourced from an award-winning Guatemalan farm.

What This Says About Miami Dining Trends

The opening reflects a broader trend happening across South Florida, where acclaimed chefs are increasingly expanding into smaller-format, more casual hospitality concepts. High-end operators are recognizing growing demand for quality-driven daytime cafés and neighborhood dining spaces that blend premium ingredients with approachable pricing and everyday convenience. Japanese café culture in particular has become increasingly popular in major U.S. cities as diners seek more design-forward, hospitality-driven experiences beyond traditional coffee shops.

What Chef Shingo Akikuni’s Expansion Means

Chef Shingo Akikuni helped establish one of Miami’s first Michelin-starred omakase restaurants through Shingo, building a strong reputation within South Florida’s luxury dining scene. The launch of Stand shows how chefs with fine-dining credibility are diversifying into lifestyle-oriented hospitality concepts that can attract a wider daily customer base. For Coral Gables, the café adds another high-profile food and beverage concept to Miracle Mile as the district continues attracting experiential retail and hospitality tenants.

What the Industry Will Watch Next

Restaurant operators and commercial landlords will likely watch closely to see how Stand performs within Coral Gables’ competitive dining market. Smaller hospitality concepts with strong branding, premium design, and social-media-friendly menus continue becoming increasingly valuable for retail corridors trying to boost foot traffic and daytime activity. As Miami’s dining scene evolves, projects like Stand highlight the continued blending of luxury hospitality, casual dining, and lifestyle-driven retail experiences.