Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
Table of Contents
Preface by Saori Kawano
Introduction: The Japanese Chef’s Way of Thinking xvi
by Toshio Suzuki
1. Elizabeth Andoh 2
Author, culinary educator, leading English-language
expert on Japanese cuisine, and resident of Japan for more
than four decades explains how she first learned about
washoku cuisine from the woman who would become her
mother-in-law.
2. Michael Anthony 16
Executive Chef at Gramercy Tavern, New York City, and
winner of the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef in
New York City, 2012, talks about his career path from a
small Japanese restaurant in Tokyo to Paris and then to
Gramercy Tavern.
3. David Bouley 32
Executive Owner/Chef of Bouley and Brushstroke, New
York City, shares how he and Japanese agricultural
experts from Kyoto brought artisanal ingredients to his
kaiseki-inspired New York City restaurants.
4. Wylie Dufresne 46
Founder of wd~50 and Owner/Chef of Alder in New York
City, describes how he and his team use Japanese
ingredients in non-traditional Japanese ways.
5. Ben Flatt 60
Owner/Chef of Flatt’s, a Japanese guesthouse and
restaurant on the Noto Peninsula, recalls his culinary
journey from Sydney, Australia to Noto and reveals the
secrets of traditional Noto cuisine he learned from his
Japanese in-laws.
Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
6. Eddy Leroux 74
Chef de Cuisine at Daniel, New York City, recounts his
career path and how he uses Japanese ingredients in the
French kitchen.
7. Nobu Matsuhisa 86
Owner/Chef of Nobu, and other restaurants worldwide,
shares his story of what inspired him to become a
restaurateur.
8. David Myers 96
Owner/Chef of restaurants in Southern California and Las
Vegas recounts how his first interest in Japan came while
working with a Japanese chef at Charlie Trotter’s in
Chicago and how this experience led to his minimalist
approach to dish preparation and menu development.
9. Nils Norén 108
VP of Restaurant Operations for the Samuelsson Group
and past VP at The French Culinary Institute says that his
early discovery of Japanese food introduced him to the
mindset that continues to influence his cooking and
restaurant operations.
10. Ben Pollinger 122
Executive Chef at Oceana, New York City, describes the
cooking experiences that took him through various
restaurants––both good and bad––to a five-star New York
City venue and the challenges he faced along the way.
11. Eric Ripert 136
Chef, Co-owner of Le Bernardin explains his career path
and how Japanese ingredients and cooking inspire and
influence his French cuisine.
12. Toni Robertson 152
Executive Chef, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Singapore,
explains how cooking potluck dinners while working in
an Air Force emergency room led her to managing
Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
restaurant and food services at one of New York and
Singapore’s top hotels.
13. Michael Romano 172
Chef, Co-owner of Union Square Cafe and past director
of culinary services for the Union Square Hospitality
Group discloses how his fascination with Japanese cuisine
began in a spotless kitchen in Tokyo during an
international food competition.
14. Marcus Samuelsson 186
Owner/Chef of the Red Rooster and past Executive Chef
of Aquavit recalls how the Japanese chefs he met
throughout his career influenced him in adapting Asian
cuisine and ingredients.
15. Suvir Saran 196
Chef/past-owner of Dévi, New York City, and Consultant
describes his first visit to Japan, the new dishes he had the
opportunity to enjoy, and the ways they influenced his
style of Indian cooking.
16. Yosuke Suga 208
Past Executive Chef, L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon at the
Four Seasons Hotel, New York City, describes how he
landed a coveted cook’s job in Joël Robuchon’s Paris test
kitchen.
17. Noriyuki Sugie 220
Past Executive Chef, Asiate, Mandarin Oriental, New
York, explains similarities between French and Japanese
cuisine and recounts what he learned from masters, such
as Chef Yutaka Ishinabe (the “Iron Chef”) and Charlie
Trotter.
18. Toshio Suzuki 232
Owner/Chef of Sushi Zen, New York City, tells about his
philosophical approach to cooking and the challenges he
faced when opening his restaurant in New York City.
Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
19. Shinichiro Takagi 242
Owner/Chef of Zeniya in Kanazawa Japan describes his
career path from working at Kitcho, where he learned the
highest culinary skills from Master Chef Tokuoka, to
running one of Kanazawa’s most popular restaurants.
20. James Wierzelewski 256
Past Executive Chef at the New York Marriott Marquis,
Harrods in London, and other hotel restaurants describes
his philosophy of “eater-tainment” and his quest for
unusual Japanese ingredients and cooking methods, which
he successfully employs in large venues.
21. Barry Wine 268
Owner/Chef of The Quilted Giraffe shares how he
combined Japanese and American food ingredients,
exquisite Japanese dishware, and a tasting menu concept
to create unforgettable New York dining experiences in
the 1980s.
22. Lee Anne Wong 284
Independent chef, consultant, and producer of Top Chef
reveals the challenges of her diverse career, from
coordinating French Culinary Institute cooking events to
reaching the semi-finals on Top Chef.
Glossary of Japanese Ingredients and Terms 300
Selected Cookbooks of Participating Chefs 305
Index 308
About the Authors 317
Additional Resources 319
Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
P h o t o c r e d i t : M o n i k a S z i l a d i
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Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
F O U R T E E N
MARCUS SAMUELSSON
C h e f / R e s t a u r a t e u r , F o u n d e r o f
M a r c u s S a m u e l s s o n G r o u p
Marcus Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia and was raised by his
adoptive parents in Sweden. He studied at the Culinary Institute in
Gothenburg, apprenticed in Switzerland and Austria, and came to the
U.S. in 1991. At 24, as Executive Chef of Aquavit, he became the
youngest chef to receive a three-star restaurant review from The New
York Times. In 2003 he was named Best Chef: New York City by the
James Beard Foundation and has received numerous other culinary
awards.
Marcus Samuelsson is the author of several cookbooks, including,
The Soul of a New Cuisine, the winner of the James Beard
Foundation’s Best International Cookbook. He is a visiting professor
at Umeå University School of Restaurant and Culinary Arts in Sweden
and is an advisor to the Institute of Culinary Education in New York
City. Today Marcus Samuelsson divides his time between his New
York City restaurant, Red Rooster Harlem, his non-profit, Careers
Through Culinary Arts, and other charities. His latest book, Yes, Chef:
A Memoir was published in 2012.
C H E F’S C H O I C E · 187
Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
Influences
In terms of cooking, the main language in the kitchen––the only
language––is good taste and good food.
hen I first started studying cooking in Switzerland, I
thought that after I mastered German and French, the rest
would be easy. I thought, “Okay, ta-da! I’m learning
German now. I’m learning French.” But it didn’t get easier once I
mastered the languages. That’s when I realized that language is
important. But in terms of cooking, the main language––the only
language––is good taste and good food.
Every day our meetings were in German, and the menu was in
French. Then I had to communicate back with the guys I worked with
in Munich. So it was always this back and forth, back and forth. It was
organized chaos, so mistakes happened all the time. And we got yelled
at all the time. I think I was cursed at in every language there is––and
it always sounded the same. But getting yelled at helped me develop
the ability to exchange ideas with people. Now I appreciate all those
different curses and insults thrown in my face in all those different
languages. I learned that if I wanted to be a chef, I was going to get
yelled at a lot.
My goal was not to get yelled at, and then I became the guy
who told staff, “Don’t do this or that,” but I didn’t yell.
W
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Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
As a young chef, when my bosses yelled at me, I threw up. I even
cried. At that time, I was so young that I didn’t really know how to
handle it. But the stress always made a big knot in my belly. I would
run to the bathroom, throw up, come back out, and work. But I
couldn’t give up. I was the representative of my family, so it wasn’t
just about me. No, no. It was also about my mom and my dad and my
sister––everyone who helped me get a scholarship to study cooking in
Switzerland. That’s why, once I got here, I knew that if I got yelled at
it didn’t matter.
There are some chefs who are natural yellers. Their attitude is, “It
doesn’t sound like shouting to me. That’s just the way I talk.” One
chef I worked for was like that. He was much older than I was. And he
just spoke in one voice—loud! He was screaming all the time. When I
came to work, he’d shout, “Good morning!” When he yelled at me to
come to his office, I had no idea what would happen. He might say,
“I’m sending you … go now.” Or it could be, “You did a good job.”
Or, “Get the hell out of here.” It didn’t matter. It was always in the
same loud tone. At least he was consistent. He came from a different
generation. He had a lot of pressure on him every day and just never
let his guard down. But he got everything he wanted. We did
everything for him, and he did everything for us. There was never a
problem with communication. I still think about him to this day.
There was no way I could quit, so I had to figure out ways to hide
from the yelling. I joked, “Choose your torture. Which one do you
want––the knife or the words?” My goal was not to get yelled at, and
then I became the guy who told staff, “Don’t do this or that,” but I
didn’t yell.
I’m not a chef who yells. I don’t think it’s a sign of strength to be a
yeller. I don’t like to step out of character. I don’t like to get angry. If
you’re angry when you make a meal or angry when you eat it, the
C H E F’S C H O I C E · 189
Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
food is not going to taste good. If you’re angry, you’re not focused.
You’re hopeless in the kitchen. I’m very demanding, but I think there
are other ways to show that I am serious.
Cuisine
Cooking is similar to being a fashion designer––I’m always
working one season ahead.
When people come into my restaurant today, I can’t stop thinking
about what we will be doing six months from now. For example, if it’s
January and we have a winter menu, I’m thinking about the menu for
June or July. A menu takes about six months, from concept to starting
point. If I’m working on the menu for late spring or early summer, I
am probably thinking about that menu when it is snowing outside.
I spend a lot of time developing new dishes for that menu, too.
Let’s say you are my special customer. I know you love trout, so I’ll
get the ocean trout from XYZ and the other ingredients from some
other place. I form an intimate relationship with the vendors. If it is
January, we’ll serve the trout with a seasonal vegetable, for example.
But if we don’t have seasonal vegetables yet, we will use something
else like garlic and whatever else we can substitute. We can add some
ingredients, and this fish is going to be beautiful.
For me, judging a dish is very internal. I ask myself, how does it
taste? How does it look? I watch how my customers react to a new
dish. Sometimes when I am developing a dish, I need to serve it three,
four, five, six, seven times. By then I have the size right, I have the
cuts right. I’ve settled on doing it a certain way.
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Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
Many of the cooks in New York are from other countries, myself
included.
In America, many chefs fresh out of culinary school have a big
challenge. If they haven’t been raised around food and cooking, they
can’t say, “I know how to do that.” No! To really understand
ingredients and know what goes into a dish, they need a lot more
experience. That’s why I think that a lot of cooks who are immigrants
do better in our kitchen. Even if they don’t have money to go to
culinary school, they were raised around food.
Many of the cooks in New York are from other countries,
myself included. We grew up around taste––salt, sweet, sour, bitter.
We all have different things in our library of culinary knowledge
based on the journey that brought us to America. Here people eat
potpies or snacks for dinner, or they go to a Pizza Hut. That kind of
eating ruins their sense of taste. And they don’t break bread together.
Getting together to create a meal where everyone has a role––cooking,
setting the table, eating––this has been forgotten. So being a cook is
not just about the ingredients. It’s not just about the cuisine. It’s the
whole experience.
Ingredients
If you allow yourself to take the time to learn about the source
of your ingredients, you can be a great chef.
C H E F’S C H O I C E · 191
Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
I think the most important ingredient is water. As a chef, I rely on
clean water every day. In my kitchens, we use water for everything,
from mixing it with other ingredients to rinsing produce to washing
dishes. In Japan, every chef is trained to pay attention to the water.
Every chef needs great water to cook great food. If you allow yourself
to take the time to learn about the source of your ingredients, you can
be a great chef.
One really useful Japanese ingredient is yuzu, and it’s popular for
many reasons. Some chefs think it is a combination of lemon and
lime, but yuzu is neither. People may think that the tastes are similar,
but they aren’t. Yuzu works so well in cooking and works so well in
flavor tests.
But the Japanese ingredient I like most is smoked fish liver. When
I went to the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, I learned a lot about it. I
saw how the Japanese care for and preserve the freshness of their fish.
I have never in my life seen so many types of fish. I can’t even
describe my excitement. I’ve been to fish markets all over the world,
but nothing compared to the Tsukiji Fish Market.
Training
Culinary schools are doing a great job of pushing international
cuisine ahead. But they’re in a transition.
In the past, culinary schools, such as The French Culinary Institute,
the Institute of Culinary Education, and The Culinary Institute of
America, have focused primarily on French cooking and Italian
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Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
cooking. Today’s chefs want to learn about other cuisines, too. It
sounds like I’m not pro-French. I like French cooking very much, but
I think the culinary schools need to be open to other cuisines. Now the
cooking schools are beginning to recognize the need to include other
cuisines and are adjusting their curriculum.
Right now the cooking schools have another dilemma. How can a
new chef who has just paid $70,000 for cooking school tuition afford
to take a typical nine-dollar-an-hour restaurant job? I don’t know what
the solution is, but it’s very difficult when you do the math. This
brings up the question: Who is the cooking school for? In the past this
was never the question, because cooking schools were for those
people who wanted to learn how to become cooks or chefs and didn’t
go to college.
Today, the schools have a more diverse group of students. Now
many people are attending cooking school because they want a career
change. A potential chef might say, “I was a lawyer, and now I want
to try cooking.” The guy or gal who didn’t go to college can’t afford
to go to cooking school, so he or she goes directly into a restaurant
and learns the basics from the other cooks in the kitchen. This is not a
bad or a good thing. It’s just a different way of entering the
profession.
When students graduate, they are told, “You’re just at the
beginning, the beginning, the beginning!”
In terms of training curriculum, I think cooking schools do a good
job of teaching basic cooking skills. They also provide students with
great tools. They have the best kitchens, computers, the best libraries
with the latest cookbooks, and excellent teachers. Although American
C H E F’S C H O I C E · 193
Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
culinary schools are good at training, the fact remains that many
students are frustrated because they have paid so much money to go to
culinary school. Then when students graduate, they are told, “You’re
just at the beginning, the beginning, the beginning!” And it’s true.
For example, the other day I got a phone call from a student and a
couple of his friends who wanted to ask me questions about buying a
restaurant in their neighborhood. They asked me the type of questions
that I would never have asked at their age. But they missed the point
about experiencing the journey of becoming an owner/chef. I didn’t
even know where to start with them. I was completely baffled, so I
couldn’t reply. These young people think, “It’s me, now. Now!
Success now!” I don’t believe that young chefs like them will succeed
in the restaurant business. However, I’m inside the culinary schools a
lot, and I see that they’re making an effort to change that kind of
thinking.
Passion is what we’re looking for in the people we hire.
We are very picky about who we hire. How do we choose our
people? For me, it’s attitude. Attitude is definitely number one. We
are looking for a sense of confidence, but not arrogance. In general, I
think women are more confident than men. The guys’ confidence
often translates into arrogance. But I think that if you have the
confidence and a true passion, if you really want to go somewhere and
if you’re humble at the same time, then you can work here. If you’re
passionate about food, you can be 15 or 50 years old. Age doesn’t
matter.
At the same time, being a chef is very much like being a blues
musician. You can be 65 and seem young or 16 and seem old. Success
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Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
in the kitchen has nothing to do with age or what you can do. The
skills can be learned. Skills come with practice and performing the
same tasks every day. But today, most young chefs do not come in
with a high skill set, because they lack experience. Passion is what
we’re looking for in the people we hire.
We’re essentially looking for an eighteen-month to two-year
relationship. Any commitment less than that is not enough. And the
most important communication skill for young chefs in the kitchen is
a willingness to share. They have to share everything they know.
That’s why we pick people who are really committed and willing to
put in the time. The chefs who stay with us can be very successful.
After they have worked with us, they can go to Sweden, they can go to
Japan, they can go anyplace they want. They might even move to
Daniel or to Jean-Georges afterwards. We see that all the time.
A Day in the Life
“Why did you do that? We’ve worked all damn day. Why did
you throw all the food out?”
When I was in France, some of the best cooks there were Japanese.
Actually, they were the older Japanese guys who really loved being in
Europe. They knew Japanese food, and they were highly skilled
cooks. At one restaurant I worked in, there was a French chef who
always paced back and forth in the kitchen. One day, for whatever
reason, the French chef threw out all the prep for that day. Afterwards,
when we were all in the refrigerator, the Japanese cook asked the
worked all damn day. Why did you throw all the food out?”
C H E F’S C H O I C E · 195
Excerpted from Chef’s Choice: 22 Culinary Masters Tell How Japanese Food Culture
Influenced Their Careers and Cuisine by Saori Kawano and Don Gabor Copyright © 2015 by Saori Kawano (All Rights Reserved)
The French chef answered the Japanese cook by punching him in
the belly! But the Japanese cook’s stomach muscles were so strong
that the French chef just howled because he hurt his hand. I started to
laugh, but the Japanese cook never changed his expression and didn’t
say another word. There was no doubt that the French chef was
embarrassed, but so was the Japanese cook because he didn’t want to
embarrass his boss. I think the French chef almost broke his hand, and
all that time I was laughing. We were in the refrigerator, and I knew
that I was going to get hit next, and I had no idea what to do. This
incident demonstrated where we all were at. In France, I expected this
kind of behavior, but the Japanese cook showed the French cook,
“You really can’t touch me. You’re really in shock right now, because
you really can’t touch me.” I don’t think I will ever forget that!
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