1. How did you decide on becoming a chef? (I learned about your baseball injury. You could have done anything in the world, but why a chef?)
When I was growing up, I wanted to either be a professional baseball player or a sushi chef. When I injured my shoulder early on in my baseball career, I turned to sushi, which was always a very special food memory early in my life. I trained in the art of being a sushi chef, which is a very important position in Japanese culture. You don’t even get to work with fish for many years. First, you have to know how to prepare the rice perfectly, and then you graduate to working with the fish.
- What do you enjoy most about cooking? What do you dislike?
I take my job as a restaurateur and chef very seriously, as do those who work for me. We are providing nourishment to people who have decided to spend their money at one of my restaurants. The culinary world is so extensive, and I always have something new to discover. I find inspiration everywhere- from ingredients to a street vendor, cities I have explored to a book, and have no plans to slow down. Providing an excellent experience for each guest is stressful, but to handle that, we have to remember that we are putting love into the food we make, which keeps me balanced.
- How has being on TV affected your career?
When I would compete on Iron Chef America, I would be very focused and dealing with a lot of stress and pressure. As a guest on a different type of TV show, I got to have fun and be myself without the stress of winning a fierce competition like Iron Chef. Being on TV as much as I have during my career has definitely helped to open doors of opportunity.
- Why did you choose to expand in the U.S.?
When I first arrived in the U.S., I thought I’d be only staying for a few years – I heard about Nobu’s opening in New York and was interested in connecting with Chef Nobu Matsuhisa. After working as the head chef of Nobu New York, I was selected to compete in Japan’s Iron Man of cooking and Iron Chef America and made a lot of connections with business people who wanted to collaborate with me. I opened my first Morimoto location in 2001 in Philadelphia with Stephen Starr, and since then, have introduced two additional signature concepts (Momosan and Morimoto Asia) that have multiple locations around the U.S. with plans for more.
- What do you think about being inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame? What does it mean to you?
Being inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame is a tremendous honor. I take so much pride in being Japanese, so being awarded the “Culinary Icon Award” from the Asian Hall of Fame is very special. It has been great to learn more about the Asian Hall of Fame and all they do for the Asian community. The Asian Hall of Fame not only celebrates national and international influencers across multiple disciplines, they also help to increase positive messages of Asian excellence and cross-cultural narratives through their fundraising and programs.
- How do you feel about being Japanese or “Asian” in the U.S.A.? (Do you think or feel like this affects your career in any way?)
I am very humbled by all my fame and success in America. I was born, raised, and finished my education in Japan. My entire family is Japanese, and I still have family and relatives there, too. The people of Asia and in particular Japan have provided me with incredible support throughout my career and encourage me to share my culinary vision with guests from across the globe.
- What would you say to others who might want to embark on a career to become a chef? What are some challenges they might face? What have you enjoyed most about your career?
I have learned that hard work is always necessary and pride myself on my focused attention to detail. But even then, sometimes circumstances out of our control like location or one of many other factors we saw in 2020 can still play a role in a restaurant’s success or failure. I have learned so much throughout my career but still face new challenges each day and continue to grow from these learnings. I am very thankful for the incredible teams that support my vision in my restaurants around the world, and always love seeing my guests enjoying our work.
- Where are you currently based, and what are you working on now?
I am in Miami right now as I just opened up Momosan Wynwood. The restaurant is in the city’s most vibrant district, full of art galleries, restaurants, bars, entertainment, and home to some of the largest open-air street-art installations in the world. Momosan Wynwood is a sister location to the other Momosans I have in New York and Waikiki Beach, but with some new dishes created specifically for that city.
- With so many restaurants, how has COVID-19 affected your work and business? How has life changed for you?
The pandemic has been especially hard on the restaurant industry when you consider how many jobs have been lost and how many restaurants might never open again. At the same time, it has also shown the world how resilient we are. The restaurant community quickly banded together to support each other and showed a tremendous amount of creativity to keep serving our guests. I’m so proud to be a part of this industry. The pandemic reminded us of our strengths and taught our team how to quickly adapt our business model to best serve our guests and to bring our restaurant staff back together safely. Thankfully, we have introduced online ordering, takeout, and delivery options, which were new to us. So far, the convenience of takeout and delivery has been well received. This is a service that guests will continue to seek out and expect even once restaurants return to 100% indoor dining capacity. We also are looking at plans for all future openings to incorporate even more outdoor dining options than before, as people continue to seek out open-air options.
- What are your hopes for the future? What would you like to do after the pandemic is over?
Throughout the pandemic, I’ve enjoyed spending more time at home versus always travelling to my restaurants around the world. I was able to center my focus on the business operations while also working on new ideas for upcoming products, restaurants, and collaborations. We are working on some new openings for 2021, some that were supposed to happen in 2020 and some that came from conversations had during 2020, and very much look forward to 2021 and what lies ahead.
To read this article in Chinese (Traditional), please click here.
