Natsu in downtown Orlando’s North Quarter delivers one of the most enjoyable omakases in town

After my last visit to Sorekara, the two-Michelin star, four-hour excursion into conceptual culinarics and Japanese esoterica, I placed a self-imposed moratorium on tasting menu and omakase houses.

I know, how very 1-percenter of me. For what it’s worth, the privilege of patronizing places where hushed, performative finickry is elevated to an art form isn’t something I take lightly. Such restaurants have their place in our increasingly diversifying restaurant landscape — it’s just not the sort of place I get jacked about. And let’s be honest, a good many of these restaurants were borne from Michelin screeching their way into the Sunshine State. In the case of Natsu Omakase, a slim 12-seater in the North Quarter of downtown Orlando, it managed to snag a Michelin star after being open for just four months. Four. Months.

Restaurateurs ask me all the time what they need to do to win a Michelin star, and I tell them, “Just open a tasting menu concept with Japanese leanings.”

I don’t want to make it sound like Natsu isn’t deserving of the accolade, because they damn well deserve all the accolades. It’s more an indictment of Michelin’s practices and tourist board money grabs.

But unlike Michelin, Natsu kept a firm grip on their road to success thanks to chef-partner Stone Lin. The seasoned sushi chef established himself in New York City, most notably at Shuko, a restaurant Eater dubbed the “most exciting new Japanese restaurant” in 2015. Admittedly, Natsu roused my interest when they unveiled their $150 omakase in January of last year. It’s since been raised to $195, which is still a lot more attractive than the current climate of $300-plus multicourse affairs. But something about the low-key vibe of the place intrigued me and after a brief, pleasant chat with Lin (at the Michelin ceremony of all places!), I ended my tasting-menu moratorium.

The man gleefully geeks out over ingredients and preparations with boyish abandon, and eagerly lends his encyclopedic knowledge to those who engage with him. If there’s pretense in Natsu’s air, Lin cuts it with a knife. Literally. It’s what I really enjoyed about Natsu, along with the food, handsome blond wood surfaces, terrazzo countertops and stone paneling. The quartet of Lin, chef Anthony Esquivel, and managers Dylan Sobien and Casey Chaffin unsuffocate the whole experience with their down-to-earth likability. They don’t flex with fawning service, or force the ambience by cranking crunk, trap or boom-bap.

So when Lin served a mild Mintersweet oyster dressed with pickled shallots and chili zhoug, it didn’t really feel like the start of a special meal. But that’s precisely what it turned out to be. Japanese horsehair crab crested with hanaho-flowered Hokkaido Bafun uni cascading over salt-cured cucumber and wakame was certainly one of the prettiest things I’ve shoved into my trap this year. Tosazu jelly, made from sweetened soy, rice vinegar and mirin, punched up the flavors. Appropriate too, seeing as it’s a summer dressing and “Natsu” means “summer” in Japanese. And it was 90 degrees outside when we walked in at 8:15 p.m.

Three more “otsumami” (snacks) followed, including:

• amberjack from Kagoshima wrapped in crispy potato, dressed with a yuzu truffle vinaigrette and topped with micro broccoli and Italian summer truffle; and:
• golden threadfin bream from Oita brined in ginger water then quick-steamed to preserve its juicy texture. It was served with dashi-marinated spinach, Siberian caviar and a scallop-edamame slurry that my wife said was the best thing she’d eaten all year. The pre-nigiri opening then ended with:
• Nagasaki tilefish prepared using the “Matsukasa yaki” method — scales are crisped with hot oil before the fish is finished over binchotan coals. It was dolled up with micro cilantro, shaved bottarga and a purée of pickled and fermented bell peppers. And wow, what a spectacular bite it was.

Following a zappy yuzu-wasabi sorbet intermezzo, the sushi progression commenced with 10 pieces, each as flawless as the next — each popped, chewed and orgiastically relished.

Shima aji, kinmedai, sweet shrimp, horse mackerel and toro to start. Hokkaido scallops were scored to look feathered before being finished with Maldon salt and lemon zest. The gathered diners were floored by the sakura masu (cherry trout) and, given the process, it’s no wonder. Lin dry-cures the fish in a salt-sugar mix, gives it a vinegar bath, then pan-sears the skin. It’s then marinated in house soy and dashi for four to six hours, depending on the size and fattiness of the fish. Even a cut as staid as akami (lean tuna) took us aback with how power-packed with umami it was. Lin’s method: a seven-day aging followed by a zuke marinade using house nikiri soy, mirin and dashi. The nikiri soy also includes sake with its alcohol burned off, kombu and katsuobushi (smoked and fermented skipjack tuna) flakes.

After downing a negitoro handroll, followed by a sip or few of Dassai Blue Type 50, a dark, brooding akadashi was served, prompting another enthusiastic response from the wife. “I’ll come back just for this!” she said. “Me too!” said her neighbor.

The red miso soup with fish-bone broth, sliced chives and lime juice was the warming finish we needed after all that sushi. I also didn’t know how much I needed the yuzu white-chocolate cheesecake paired with shiso ice cream. I can now declare shiso the best ice cream flavor ever. The burnt cheesecake is more Basque than New York, while a quenelle of that ice cream sits atop a miso butter-panko crumble and is graced with a fried shiso leaf. Gorgeous.

In true Japanese fashion there’s a wash station in the space, only at Natsu it’s situated right at the entrance of the restaurant. It’s a bit jarring, but so is the fact that only half of Natsu’s patrons use it to wash their hands upon entering. Good thing a washcloth is also provided after guests are seated.

In case you’re wondering, I did wash my hands after entering. And if you’ve read this far, you’ll know I fell for Natsu — hook, line and sink.

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This article appears in Summer Guide 2025.