Chef Ryan Ratino, whose tasting menu concept Jônt in Washington, D.C., has garnered two Michelin stars in each of the past three years, is poised to make a grand and starry re-entry into the Orlando restaurant world later this month.
Ratino, along with the team at Hive Hospitality, will open Ômo by Jônt, a 16-seat, “experiential” French-Japanese tasting menu concept, Thursday, Feb. 1, in the old Sushi Pop space at 115 E. Lyman Ave. in Winter Park.
The restaurant will showcase Ratino’s skills with Japanese seafood and play up meats and produce procured from local purveyors like Pasture Prime and Frog Song Organics. And in an interesting twist, Ratino says that each of the 18-22 courses served (see opening menu below) will receive the smoky smooch of wood fire in some way.
But the dining experience itself will prove unique, in that the plated progression of dishes will take place in three separate dining salons styled by Matt Kelly of Make Design Studios. Guests will first arrive in the “Living Room,” where they’ll chill on Champagne and, as Ratino puts it, “a barrage of canapés” like foie gras doughnuts and shiitake bao with black bean fudge.
After a proper snack-and-schmooze, they’ll be led to the “Savory Counter” for the brunt of the meal, where dolled-up dishes like Hokkaido sea urchin with corn chawanmushi, or steamed milk-fed pork belly with sunchoke consommé, will dazzle Ômo’s deep-pocketed diners into gastronomic oblivion. The “Pastry Parlor” is where it all comes to a glorious, gut-busting conclusion.
Needless to say, Ômo by Jônt promises to be, arguably, the most high-profile restaurant opening of the year. And for Ratino, it presents the culmination of a dream.
“I know this city so well,” he says. “I moved here when I was 18 to attend Le Cordon Bleu and lived here for five years on and off. I met my fiancée here. We would often eat at Luma, and after, we’d walk along Park Avenue and I’d say, One day, I’m going to open a restaurant here.”
The city’s restaurant landscape has changed since the days Ratino, now 33, worked as a sous chef at Shula’s Steak House and an executive chef at Todd English’s Bluezoo, both at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort. But if there’s one thing hotel cooking taught him, it was learning how to move.
“All the small details add to more than just going out to eat, and we’re not going to hold back.”
“You were a part of this bigger culinary team of the resort. We were doing, like, $200 million in food and beverage, so it taught us pacing, timing and organization. You had to be on it to be successful.” The skills Ratino gleaned from being a player in a large-scale effort translated when he became the main man in a smaller, more focused operation.
When you consider Ômo will serve up to 22 dishes to 32 guests in two seatings, the numbers, however, don’t seem so small. “We’ll serve 750 compositions per night,” he says, “with each dish being touched numerous times.”
While Ratino says he’ll be cooking at Ômo “a couple of weeks every quarter,” day-to-day duties will be handled by chefs de cuisine Mike Commins (Rocca, Tampa) and Jackson Morrow (L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Las Vegas and Miami), though Ratino will be a constant presence during Ômo’s opening weeks.
The man, after all, also runs Bresca, a contemporary Parisian bistro in D.C. with 1 Michelin star, as well as the recently opened Maass at the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale. Hotel restaurants in L.A. are also in the works, so expect to see the Jônt brand grow in the coming years.
Ratino also isn’t shy about growing industry accolades, but earning Michelin stars and James Beard Awards, he says, is an adjacent goal to offering a superlative dining experience.
“We want to provide the highest expression of our craft and hospitality in general, and if we’re shooting for the highest, the rest will fall into place.”
The name Ômo, in fact, is inspired by the Japanese philosophy of omotenashi, an expression embracing the concepts of hospitality and mindfulness through empathy, anticipation and authenticity.
“We want to make people happy and create an unparalleled experience for our guests. If it’s your anniversary, we’ll serve you some Krug and hit you with special touches. If you have dogs, we’ll send you home with some custom-branded dog treats. All the small details add to more than just going out to eat, and we’re not going to hold back.”
Ômo by Jônt will offer dinner service Thursday through Sunday at 5:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Cost will be $245, with beverage pairings starting at $195. A Saturday lunch service will range between $155-$170. Reservations can be made at sevenrooms.com.
Follow @omobyjont on Instagram or at omobyjont.com for all the latest.
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This article appears in Jan 3-9, 2024.
