ORLANDO, Fla. – Mike Collantes started his culinary career inside Orlando’s Fashion Square Mall, but he now counts himself among the exclusive ranks of Michelin-starred chefs.
Collantes earned his Michelin Star in 2022 for his omakase restaurant Soseki in Winter Park.
“After the Michelin Star, we’re seeing international clientele and guests, as well as our local guests, but really put us on the map for what we’ve been doing here in Winter Park,” he said.
The same year he won his Michelin Star, Collantes closed his first restaurant Taglish, a fast-casual Filipino concept that had three locations at its height.
“As we got busier with the fine dining restaurants and other restaurants, our lease came up, and we decided to close that venture down, never to really open it again,” Collantes said.
However, with the success of his fine dining restaurant, Collantes has had the ability to open several other restaurants around the greater Orlando area, including Sushi Saint, which was awarded a Bib Gourmand by Michelin. The award highlights high-quality food at reasonable prices.
“Last year, November, we opened up our doors (to Sushi Saint),” he said. “There (was) no hand-rolled temaki bar in town. So it’s a different way to eat sushi, utilizing still the same quality that we do at our fine dining and just making it a little bit more casual.”
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In addition to Soseki and Sushi Saint, Collantes is rapidly expanding his culinary empire. He recently opened a sake speakeasy, Bar Kada, next to Soseki. He is also planning to reopen Taglish inside the food hall that used to be The Hall on the Yard, which is now under new ownership.
“Taglish is Tagalog in English — so good representation of not just traditional Filipino food. It’s really the upbringing of everyone who’s migrated to America and I would say it was my connecting point back to my culture, which, you know, I grew up here in the States,” Collantes said.
Collantes also plans to open a French restaurant there as well, Chez Les Copain. The chef said it is something the area is lacking in.
“We saw a big decline in French restaurants (in Orlando) in the past couple years. A lot of them have just closed up shop,” he said.
In addition to all of his work in Orlando, Collantes is starting to work on some international ventures.
“I’ve been doing consulting for the past year, year and a half, with other brands, and it brought me to this new concept called Kaimana, which will be opening this fall in Dubai,” he said.
On the latest episode of Florida Foodie, Collantes talks more about the opportunities he’s gotten since earning a Michelin Star. He also talks about the struggles that many restaurants are dealing with now as costs rise.
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