36 culturecheesemag.com T R AV E L 202 2
C H E F ' S D I S H
L
oud, vibrant, and conspicuous,
Miami is more known for multi-
million-dollar restaurants than it is
for hidden dining rooms or secret
speakeasies. Influenced by both
climate and cultures, it's also a
place where everything from appetizers to
desserts trend toward the tropical rather
than the velvety and cheesy.
At the year-old Kojin, located in the
rapidly gentrifying Little River/El Portal
neighborhood, chef-owners Pedro and
Katherine Mederos defy those norms. A
modest 10-seat restaurant located in the
back of another restaurant, Hachidori
Ramen Bar, Kojin was originally designed
to be a sake den. Instead, Hachidori
owner Guillermo Paniza started using it
for storage while the pandemic raged and
locals took advantage of the restaurant's
outdoor seating.
In June 2021, he reached out
and offered the space to Pedro and
Katherine, who had recently closed their
four-month-old dumpling pop-up. With
a wall of faux cherry blossoms and a
neon kanpai sign already installed along
with a bar and a table or two, Kojin
was turnkey. All Pedro and Katherine
had to do was move in—and figure
out what they wanted to serve without
having a full kitchen. You might think
that the young couple, who had met at
The Culinary Institute of America (CIA)
at Greystone in St. Helena, California,
would offer a variation on the classical
French cuisine in which they were
trained. Especially since they would have
to use every inch of the bar, along with
portable and makeshift appliances and
burners at various prep stations.
Instead, Pedro, who has a sense
of humor so deadpan that his words
almost evaporate like dry ice, says, "We
created this to make it as difficult for
ourselves as possible. So now we work
12–14-hour days." In other words, they
went in a completely different direction:
toward fare that the Miami-bred Pedro
describes as "traditional Japanese with
modern twists."
Located behind another restaurant,
Kojin has a speakeasy vibe
