Rakki, a new Asian-inspired ‘rice and noodles’ concept, opens in Seminole Heights

While Ichicoro’s 2023 closure still leaves Seminole Heights residents craving traditional ramen, a newly-opened restaurant with globally-inspired Asian fare may help fill that void.

After two years of building out its space, Asian-fusion concept Rakki finally opened its doors on Tuesday, April 30.

Seminole Heights’ newest restaurant is in one of Tampa's best strip malls nestled between Gulf Coast Sourdough Sandwich House and Mekenita Cantina at 6705 N Florida Ave., adjacent to other popular concepts like Wicked Oak Barbecue and Revolution Ice Cream Co.

Rakki’s dining room seats about 16 people, and a few sidewalk tables are coming soon. The restaurant is named after the Japanese word for "lucky."

While Rakki's intimate menu boasts higher-end dishes that pull from a range of Asian cuisines—from truffle mac and cheese ramen to short rib birria baos—owner and Executive Chef Israel Mora tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the concept may pivot to more casual fare sometime soon, in addition to expanding its hours to include lunch.

Since Mora and his partner and co-owner Aylen Labriola took over the space in mid-2022, they’ve been able to observe the dining patterns of their neighboring concepts. Mora says that he wants to start offering lighter, more daytime-friendly options soon, which will include a few more rice and noodle dishes.

Other unique plates on Rakki’s current menu are its chili bouillabaisse ramen, a riff on the classic French dish, a cheesy twist on a Thai fried egg salad (Yum Kai Dao) and five-spiced-gyozas with lamb, ginger and a yogurt, lemon and cumin sauce. Folks can choose between a Basque-style cheesecake and a coconut panna cotta with lime-coconut foam for dessert.

Rakki’s menu will experience a few changes as it continues its soft opening phase, with Chef Mora drawing on his learned career and creative bent to eventually finalize Rakki’s offerings.

“I think it’s a really great time to be a chef right now, there’s so many resources online and on Instagram. Back in the '90s when I first started, it wasn’t really like this,” Mora explains. “But I still love traveling and reading cookbooks and interacting with great chefs, too.”

While Chef Mora may be a newer player in Tampa’s restaurant scene, the 46 year-old with over two decades of experience has worked in kitchens around the world in places like Las Vegas, Miami, Hong Kong and the U.K. As an up-and-coming chef in his home country of Spain, Mora worked at the Quique Dacosta Restaurant—which has retained three Michelin stars since 2012—as well as other prestigious eateries in Valencia and Moraira.

Mora moved from Miami to Tampa a few years ago to pursue personal chef gigs, and quickly realized that he wanted to open his first concept here. Mora and Labriola are operating their debut restaurant independently and without any outside investors.

“I’ve helped open a lot of restaurants before, but this is the first time I’m opening my own—and it's been totally different. This is the first time I’m dealing with construction, contracts and architecture,” Mora tells CL.

Once things are up and running at the new Asian-fusion restaurant, Mora also plans to launch a specialty “ La Barra ” experience, an exclusive tasting menu that will be a tad more upscale than Rakki's everyday offerings.

For now, Rakki is open in Seminole Heights from 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday is closed Sunday-Monday.

Follow @rakkitampa on Instagram for the latest updates on its menu items and operating hours.

Chef Mora plans to continue his private chef, catering and meal prep services throughout the greater Tampa Bay area and can be contacted on chefisraelmora.com.

He’s also gearing up to open a second concept in the Wesley Chapel area within the next few years. [location-1] Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

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