Now this has to be posted here, no doubt about it.
Miami Spice: Naked Sushi adds hot bodies and wasabi
By Ben Crandell July 30, 2012 11:53 AM


At Naked Sushi, the bodies under your meal are Kung Fu Kitchen & Sushi staffers, and may offer tips on what you're eating.

Kung Fu Kitchen & Sushi on Tuesday introduces Naked Sushi, which is pretty much what you think it is.

But there’s a small caveat: The restaurant inside the frisky South Beach hotel known as the Catalina, setting for The CW reality show of the same name, attracts a hot young crowd. So the meal, artfully arranged on strategically placed leaves, may not sit on a model that is actually naked: If you request a male model, he’ll have a thong on.

“We didn’t want the leaves moving by themselves,” says hotel owner Nathan Lieberman.

Naked Sushi debuts with the annual Miami Spice discount-dining series in August and September, but comes with different pricing. The typical Naked Sushi meal, available for lunch and dinner, serves 10 and costs $500. The price is based on the menu price of the sushi plus a fee for the model.

“For $500, you get $350 worth of sushi and, like, a chick. It’s a pretty good deal. I don’t even know how many laps dances that would be,” Lieberman says with a sly laugh.

Lieberman is the 33-year-old son of South Beach Hotel Group’s Alan Lieberman, who also owns the Hotel Chelsea, Chesterfield Hotel & Suites and the Riviera Hotel & Suites, among others.

Nathan Lieberman developed the idea for The CW’s “The Catalina” (“That’s my baby,” he says).

Lieberman says that when Kung Fu Sushi chef Glenn Lopez and he began discussing the idea for Naked Sushi, they thought about finding professional models, but Catalina staffers eagerly volunteered.

Each is “professionally bathed,” Lieberman said, and inspected by a manager before heading to the private dining room where the meal is served.

Lieberman says the possibility that leaves will get out of place is understood. The level of interaction you have with the model is “really up to whoever is under the leaves,” Lieberman says.

“We just had a bachelor party for 12 guys and they had my hostess… and she said they were really gentlemen,” Lieberman says of a recent trial run. “She said she actually wishes they were a little less gentleman.”

Kung Fu Kitchen & Sushi (1720 Collins Ave., Miami Beach) will have three-course, prix-fixe meals for lunch ($19, plus tax/tip) and dinner ($33) during Miami Spice, which offers discounts at dozens of top restaurants through September. More info: SunSentinel.com/miamispice.

Reservations for Naked Sushi can be made by calling 305-600-9572 or by emailing Morgan.Daly@southbeachgroup.com. More info: CatalinaSouthBeach.com/kungfukitchen, 305-534-7905.