Omasava: Where Japanese Tradition Meets Ancient Oak and Personal History in Naples

An intimate chef’s-counter experience on Fifth Avenue South brings Japanese omakase, extraordinary ingredients, and a deeply personal sense of place to Naples.

There are restaurants designed to impress, and then there are restaurants designed to tell a story.

Hidden just beyond the palm-lined streets of Fifth Avenue South in Naples, Omasava belongs to the second category. Opened in December 2025 by Corinne Ryan and Veljko Pavicevic, the founders behind Sails Restaurant and Butcher Private, Omasava is an intimate Japanese omakase experience shaped by travel, friendship, family history, craftsmanship, and an extraordinary respect for ingredients.

At its heart is a single Chef’s Counter fashioned from an approximately 3,900-year-old oak connected to the Sava River in Veljko’s homeland. Around it, Chef Harun Yaman Samed guides guests through an ever-changing progression of approximately 22 to 25 courses, creating an evening that is less about choosing from a menu and more about trusting the chef.

What Does Omasava Mean?

The restaurant's name reflects the personal history behind the concept.

“Oma” refers to omakase, the Japanese tradition of entrusting the meal to the chef. It also means grandmother in German and Dutch. “Sava” honors both the Sava River and Veljko’s grandmother, whose name was Sava. Together, the words connect Japanese hospitality with family, memory, and place.

That philosophy extends throughout the restaurant. Omasava is not simply a Japanese restaurant in Naples; it is a deeply personal interpretation of omakase, built around the belief that meaningful hospitality is rooted in trust and connection.

A 3,900-Year-Old Oak Becomes the Chef’s Counter

The most remarkable object in the restaurant is also its centerpiece.

The Omasava Chef’s Counter was created from an oak approximately 3,900 years old. The tree grew for nearly 900 years before a change in the course of the Sava River carried it beneath the riverbed, where it remained naturally preserved for roughly 3,000 years.

The oak was recovered nearly four decades ago by the owner of a fourth-generation mining company and longtime friend of Veljko. It was then allowed to air-dry naturally for approximately 35 years.

Veljko remembered the tree from childhood. Years later, after traveling with Corinne and visiting omakase restaurants around the world, he recalled the extraordinary oak and asked whether he could purchase it for their new restaurant. His friend refused to sell it. Instead, he gave it to Veljko.

A core sample was subsequently analyzed by the University of Rome, helping establish the remarkable age of the wood. For the founders, however, the oak's importance goes well beyond its age. It represents childhood memories, friendship, homeland, and a river that helped shape the restaurant's identity.

The counter has been left completely natural, without lacquer, oil, or stain. Its surface is remarkably smooth and soft, and it is carefully sanded each week. Here, the ancient wood becomes the stage upon which Chef Harun's contemporary omakase unfolds.

From Wine Cellar to Intimate Chef’s Counter

The Omasava experience begins in what appears to be a sophisticated wine cellar, surrounded by bottles and crowned with vintage French Champagne suspended across the ceiling.

Then the room changes.

Once the final guest is seated, the cellar walls quietly close around the Chef’s Counter. Fifth Avenue South disappears from view, classical music settles into the background, and attention turns entirely toward the chefs. The preparation becomes part of the evening itself: the knife work, repetition, timing, presentation, and quiet concentration involved in Japanese cuisine.

The Champagne overhead has a purpose beyond aesthetics. The bottles are being aged for future celebrations the founders hope to share with Omasava guests, adding another layer to the restaurant's philosophy that every evening is an occasion worth celebrating.

The Omakase Experience

Omakase essentially means entrusting the experience to the chef. Rather than ordering individual dishes from a conventional menu, guests allow Chef Harun to determine the progression based on seasonality, availability, product quality, and the rhythm of the evening.

Wild fish and shellfish are flown from Toyosu Market in Tokyo, complemented by carefully selected ingredients sourced closer to home. The approximately 22-to-25-course experience may include sushi, tempura, gyoza and other Japanese preparations, although no particular dish is promised. The menu evolves with the ingredients and with Chef Harun's judgment. That flexibility is central to the experience. Omasava's philosophy is not to force an ingredient into a predetermined menu, but to understand when it needs transformation and when the best approach is simply to let its natural character speak.

Omasava at a Glance

• Location: Just off Fifth Avenue South in Naples, Florida

• Opened: December 2025

• Format: Chef’s Counter omakase

• Experience: Approximately 22–25 courses

• Duration: Approximately 2½ hours

• Price: $298 per guest, excluding beverages, tax and service charge

• Seatings: 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

• Beverages: Award-winning wine list, curated sake and tea pairing

• Private dining: Available for groups of up to 15 guests

  
  

Chef Harun Yaman Samed: A Culinary Journey Across Cultures

Leading the experience is Chef Harun Yaman Samed, whose culinary perspective has been shaped by Turkish, Ottoman, Japanese, and French traditions.

Born in Bolu, Turkey, Harun's earliest lessons in food came from working alongside his mother in the family garden, where he developed an appreciation for seasonality, freshness and the character of ingredients.

At 15, he moved to Ankara and began his professional culinary career in Turkish and Ottoman cuisine. His direction changed after joining Zuma, where he studied Japanese cuisine under master sushi chef Chinnapat Poonsiri and trained alongside Japanese and Thai chefs. His career subsequently took him to Istanbul, Dubai and Croatia, where working with exceptional seafood and international culinary teams expanded his understanding of sourcing, technique and product quality.

In 2023, Harun joined the opening team at Butcher Private in Naples. Over the following two years, his creativity and culinary perspective helped shape the vision that would ultimately become Omasava. He also traveled to Japan to immerse himself more deeply in omakase, Japanese ingredients, and the culture of hospitality surrounding the chef's counter.

Today, his cooking reflects those experiences. Japanese tradition provides the foundation, while his Turkish and Ottoman background, international career, and French influences contribute to an individual culinary language.

Precision, Seasonality and Restraint

Chef Harun's approach can be distilled into several principles: seasonality, precision, restraint, creativity and hospitality. The ingredients determine the menu. Technique is meticulous. Creativity is encouraged without losing respect for Japanese tradition. And throughout the experience, the relationship between chef and guest remains central.

At a restaurant built around trust, a returning guest becomes perhaps the greatest compliment.

A Restaurant Filled With Personal Objects

Omasava's sense of history does not end with the oak.

Throughout the space are objects collected over decades, including hand-cut European crystal, vintage Japanese porcelain, and pieces inherited from Veljko's grandmother. Many of the crystal pieces had never been used. They still carried their original labels, preserved by his grandmother for a special occasion.

At Omasava, the labels were removed.

The pieces finally entered service, reflecting one of the restaurant's simplest ideas: every evening shared with guests is the special occasion they were waiting for. A family service trolley purchased in 1962 and designed by an Italian furniture designer is another reminder that the restaurant's character comes from objects with stories rather than pieces chosen simply to decorate a room.

At Omasava, every day is a special occasion and a celebration of life.

Craftsmanship Down to the Smallest Detail

The attention to detail continues throughout the guest experience.

Custom chairs upholstered in deep navy Italian leather were designed around exceptional comfort and the precision associated with Britain's finest luxury automobiles. They are intended to support guests through the restaurant's approximately two-and-a-half-hour journey. Even the washroom carries the same philosophy, combining Portoro marble, ancient oak, and crystal. A massive solid-oak door weighing approximately 700 pounds provides an unusual degree of privacy and quiet, while a Japanese TOTO adds a distinctly appropriate touch of precision. Nothing feels accidental.

Why Omasava Is Different

Naples has no shortage of memorable dining experiences, but Omasava occupies a distinctive place within the city's culinary landscape. It is intimate by design, accommodating up to 15 guests. There is no conventional dining room menu and no promise of a particular dish. Instead, there is a chef, a counter, exceptional ingredients, and an evening that reveals itself one course at a time.

The result is an experience that combines Japanese omakase in Naples with something far more personal: a story about family, friendship, travel, craftsmanship and the passage of time. The ancient oak provides the physical connection to that story. Chef Harun provides the culinary one. And the guest becomes part of it simply by taking a seat.

Omasava: A Journey Rather Than a Menu

The founders describe Omasava as a chef-guided journey built from Japanese tradition, extraordinary ingredients, ancient materials, family heirlooms, and experiences gathered over a lifetime. Perhaps that is the best way to understand the restaurant. Omasava asks guests to slow down, set aside the usual decisions, and trust the person on the other side of the counter.

For approximately two and a half hours, the outside world falls away. The room closes around the ancient oak, the chef begins to work, and dinner becomes something more than a sequence of courses. It becomes a shared occasion.