Japan Eats

Our guest is Phillip Frankland Lee who is the chef/owner of Sushi by Scratch.  Sushi by Scratch Restaurants began in Los Angeles and New York marks its tenth location, which opened in September 2024. Phillip is known for innovative omakase-style sushi preparations, while still respecting the values set by sushi masters. For example, he uses premium seafood mostly from the Toyosu Market in Japan and he imports rice from Toyoama Prefecture and mills it in-house.  On the other hand, he pays homage to his American upbringing by flavoring hamachi yellowtail with sweet corn pudding and topped with a sprinkle of sourdough breadcrumbs. Sushi has come a long way in the U.S. since the 1960s when it was introduced to the general public for the first time.  Sushi is now one of the most popular foods in the U.S. and great talents like Phillip seem to be making it uniquely American.  

Our guest is George Kao who is the head of sales at Boken Sake https://www.drinkboken.com/　based in New York.  Boken Sake is a unique concept.  The company collaborates with authentic Japanese sake breweries and produces sake under the Boken brand. Many sake breweries consider expanding to overseas markets, but a lot of them are family-owned small businesses without enough resources to make it happen.  Boken can effectively create a path for them to get into the American market and American consumers can have opportunities to taste their precious craft sake. George is an ideal talent to execute Boken’s mission with his rich and unique background in Japanese food, in particular Japanese sake. In this episode, we will discuss the unique concept of Boken Sake, the sake Boken has produced with a 540-year-old brewery, great ways to enjoy sake with non-Japanese food and much, much more!!!

Our guest is Ririko Tatsumi who is the founder of Annn based in New York.  Annn is truly a unique concept.  Traditional Japanese sweets are called Wagashi.  One of Wagashi’s key ingredients is An, or Anko, a bean paste made with different kinds of beans from red, and white to green.  Not just colors, their flavors are diverse and it is fun to discover how simple beans can create rich flavors in Japanese sweets.  That is why Ririko decided to introduce the charm of An to a global audience in the modern American context. In this episode, we will discuss what An is, what types of An you can enjoy, how traditional An can be creative in the context of global sweet recipes and much, much more!!!

Our guest is John Gauntner who is one of the world’s leading non-Japanese sake experts and educators.  He has been writing and lecturing about sake since 1994, in various newspapers and magazines in Japan and overseas. He has published six books on sake across two languages, and hundreds of articles on the topic.  Several times each year, he runs the Sake Professional Course, a week-long intensive sake study course, held both in and outside of Japan, as well as the advanced level of that course. John joined us in Episode 25 in December 2015 and discussed his intriguing path to becoming a sake expert, why sake was gaining popularity in the world, how to get to know more about sake and many other topics. Sake has become popular globally over the last decades but we tend to think that sake is something to drink only at Japanese restaurants.  However, more non-Japanese restaurants are serving sake, including new American restaurants Michelin-starred Per Se, Blue Hill At Stone Barns and Eleven Madison Park in New

Our guest is Nobu Yamanashi who is the president of Yama Seafood based in New Jersey. Founded in 1980 by his father Kengo Yamanashi, Yama Seafood has been one of the most reliable sources of high-quality seafood in the U.S. for almost 45 years. Nobu joined us in Episode #245 in November 2021 to discuss why he decided to succeed the highly demanding job in the seafood business, the changing needs for seafood at New York City restaurants, why Yama Seafood had many employees who had worked for the company over 30 years and many other topics. Since then, plenty of new things have happened at Yama Seafood, reflecting the ever-changing demand for quality seafood and the environmental issues that affect the oceans. In this episode, we will discuss how Nobu is proactively dealing with the increasingly challenging issues caused by climate change, his efforts to educate consumers about seafood through social media, what seafood has potential for the future and much, much more!!!

Our guest today Xander Soren who is the founder of Xander Soren Wines https://xandersorenwines.com/ .  Xander Soren Wines is a unique boutique California Pinot Noir producer whose mission is to create wines that pair exceptionally well with sushi and other Japanese foods without overpowering them. Equally unique is Xander’s background. He spent 20 years at Apple where he played a pivotal role in helping to develop digital music products like GarageBand, iTunes, and iPod.  Since the winery launched in Japan in 2023, top restaurants like 3-Michelin-starred Sushi Saito, NO CODE and KOKE have included Xander’s wine on their lists. Also here in the U.S., his wine became available in the summer of 2024 and is on the lists of notable restaurants on the West Coast such as n/naka, Single Thread and Nisei. In this episode, we will discuss how Xander’s love for Japanese food started, why he decided to make his own wine to pair with Japanese food, why Pinot Noir goes very well with Japanese food, tips to pair Japanese fo

Our guest is Stuart Turner who is the Founder & CEO of SushiSushi https://www.sushisushi.co.uk/ based in Sheffield in the United Kingdom. Stu founded SushiSushi in 2007 and since then, the company has grown to become a leading supplier of high-end Japanese food ingredients. Many of his clients are fine-dining non-Japanese restaurants, including The Fat Duck Group, Gordon Ramsay Group, The Savoy and Mandarin Oriental Group. In this episode, we will discuss how the young British man started a business of selling Japanese traditional items, how he keeps discovering great ingredients that have been unknown outside of Japan, the popular Japanese ingredients top chefs are using right now and much, much more!!!

Our guest is Jerome Waag who is the former chef at the legendary farm-to-table restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. Jerome moved to Tokyo in 2016 to open his own restaurant Blind Donkey. The restaurant has been popular and successful and in March 2024, Jerome has opened another place called CIMI Restorant with a strong focus on sustainability. He has been also involved in an inspiring project the Food Hub Project in a small town called Kamiyama in Shikoku Island, which aims to revitalize the local community. In this episode, we will discuss how Jerome opened his own restaurant in Japan, his unique experience of running a successful restaurant in Tokyo, his new restaurant CIMI restorant and its vision for sustainable food, his role in revitalizing the rural town Kamiyama, and much, much more!!! Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Japan Eats by becoming a member!Japan Eats is Powered by Simplecast.

Our guest is Shiho Tanaka who is the head sommelier at Tsukimi, the Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant in the East Village, Manhattan. The restaurant offers great selections of sake and wine to pair with chef Takanori Akiyama’s original kaiseki-style dishes. Recently, Japanese wines were added to the list and Shiho is one of the most knowledgeable sommeliers about Japanese wines in the U.S. You may not have heard of Japanese wine, but in the last decade or so, it started to appear in the global market and the world's biggest wine competitions, such as the IWSC International Wine & Spirit Competition, the Decanter World Wine Awards and the International Wine Challenge, honor Japanese wines with multiple Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.In this episode, we will discuss the challenging history of Japanese wine, why the Japanese wine industry is developing so fast in recent years, the unique grape varieties that make Japanese wine special, how to pair Japanese wine with Japanese food as well as non-Japanese fo

Our guest is Makoto Okuwa, who is the chef/partner of multiple, highly popular Japanese restaurants in the U.S. and other major cities in the world, including Makoto at Bal Harbour in Miami, Love Makoto in Washington D.C., and Makoto Vail in Colorado.Makoto’s success did not come easily. He started cooking at the age of 15 in Japan, training under master chefs for a decade and moved to Washington D.C. in 2001. Under Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, his new life in America was another hardworking process of learning a foreign language and culture, how to read American diners’ minds, not to mention honing his culinary skills.In this episode, we will discuss how Makoto got into cooking at such a young age, why he decided to challenge himself in America, what he learned from his mentor/master chefs, the reasons behind his success on the global stage, and much, much more!!!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Japan Eats by becoming a member!Japan Eats is Powered by Simpleca

Our guest is Elizabeth Andoh, who joined us 14 times and shared her truly deep insight into traditional Japanese food culture. Elizabeth is a food writer and Japanese cooking instructor based in Tokyo, and she has lived in Japan for over 50 years. She runs the culinary arts program called A Taste of Culture https://tasteofculture.com/ , which offers a great opportunity for non-Japanese people to explore Japanese culture through its food. Elizabeth is also the author of 6 cookbooks, including the award-winning “Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Kitchen” and “Kansha: Celebrating Japan's Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions”.Today’s topic is mouthfeel or 食感 “shokkan” in Japanese. The Japanese language has far more adjectives to describe mouthfeel. For example, according to a 2003 study, the Japanese language had 445 words, French 227, Chinese 144 and English and German around 100 to describe the texture of food in your mouth. In this episode, we will discuss why Japanese people have so many different words to descri

Our guest is Hannah Kirshner who is a food stylist and author of Water, Wood, and Wild Things published in 2021. She joined us in Episode #223 to discuss her wonderful book and introduced us to her fascinating life in Yamanaka, a small town in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. Hannah’s connection with Yamanaka has been deepening over time since her first visit in 2015 for a three-month apprenticeship at a sake bar. Then she moved to the town in 2018, fully immersing herself in the local culture through unique experiences, such as working at a sake brewery and carving wood trays with near-extinct ancient techniques. You can read her book and/or listen to Episode #223 to get to know her deep insight into Japanese culture in detail. There is no strict definition but generally speaking, Kominka means a residential house over 50 years old with classic value. Like in many other countries, depopulation is becoming an issue in Japan and as a result, vacant houses are abundant nationwide. In other words, in those depopulate

Our guest is Karl Palma, who is the chef and owner of Karl’s Balls based in New York City. His mission is to introduce the soul of takoyaki, which is one of the most beloved traditional comfort foods in Japan, to the world.Karl joined us in Episode #189 in 2020 and introduced us to the basics of takoyaki. Takoyaki is one of the biggest stars of Japanese summer festivals and it is seasonally timely to delve into the delicious, savory snack with a rich cultural background!In this episode, we will discuss why the simple bite-size balls are a piece of art, distinctively different styles of takoyaki between Osaka and Tokyo, the upcoming exciting takoyaki festival in Japan that Karl is invited to, and much, much more!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Japan Eats by becoming a member!Japan Eats is Powered by Simplecast.

Our guest today is Thomas Frebel, the creative director at Noma. Noma is the famed restaurant in Copenhagen with numerous accolades, including three Michelin stars and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ No. 1 spot four times in a row from 2010 to 2014.Since its opening in 2003, Noma’s chef/owner René Redzepi has been inspiring the world through his strong philosophy of cooking with Nordic traditions and his never-ending pursuit of creativity. Noma’s landscape has reached far beyond Nordic countries, and Redzepi and his team have been actively exploring various food cultures in the world, including Japan.Since Thomas joined Noma in 2009, he has been working closely with Chef Redzepi, and has served as the executive chef at Noma’s restaurant project in Tokyo called INUA.In this episode, we will discuss the unique concepts of Noma beyond the famous restaurant, what Thomas learned through his job at INUA, Noma’s pop-up dinners in Kyoto this fall, what happens after Noma restaurant’s closure at the end of 2024, and

Our guest is Timothy Sullivan who is the Director of Education and lead instructor at the Sake Studies Center at Brooklyn Kura. He has over 16 years of experience teaching about sake, and in 2007 he was awarded the prestigious title of Sake Samurai by the Japan Sake Brewers Association. Since 2013, Tim has served as the Global Brand Ambassador for Hakkaisan Sake Brewery. He has played a pivotal role in developing and advancing the American sake industry.In this episode, we will discuss how the Japanese sake industry has been reviving solidly thanks to sake ambassadors and educators like Tim, how the American sake industry has been powerfully developing, what types of sake to drink now, how you can gain knowledge of sake to make the most of your precious glass, and much, much more!!!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Japan Eats by becoming a member!Japan Eats is Powered by Simplecast.

Our guest is Bob Broskey, who is the Executive Chef Partner of RPM Restaurants based in Chicago.After working at Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago, he joined the team at RPM in 2019. Now he oversees multiple restaurants in Chicago, Las Vegas and Washington DC, reflecting his talent in managing popular restaurants in diverse genres. In addition to Bob's profound experience in cooking seafood, he is now one of the most knowledgeable chefs about Japanese wagyu beef in the U.S.In this episode, we will discuss Bob's recent visits to Wagyu farms in Japan, how Wagyu is different from regular beef from a chef's point of view, why Wagyu is so appealing to highly skilled chefs like Bob who have diverse options of meat to choose from, the best way to taste Wagyu, and much, much more!!!Photo courtesy of Lindsay Eberly.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Japan Eats by becoming a member!Japan Eats is Powered by Simplecast.

Our guest is Shinji Sakamoto, a seafood expert based in Tokyo. Shinji’s background is unique and impressive. He trained himself as a buyer in the world's biggest seafood market called Tsukiji, and worked in Japan, Singapore and the U.S. to support operations of the seafood departments at major corporations. He also received a formal culinary education at one of the top culinary programs in Japan.You may have heard about the Tsukiji Market, which was relocated in 2018 and is now called the Toyosu Market. It is the Central Wholesale Market in Tokyo and every high-end sushi restaurant in the world relies on the market to secure the best-quality seafood available.In this episode, we will discuss how Shinji became a seafood expert and buyer at the world's biggest fish market, why the Toyosu Market is so important regardless of whether you are in the seafood industry or a seafood lover, how the market works to offer prime seafood in the best condition, and much, much more!!!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supp

Our guest is Steven Pursley, the chef/owner of Menya Rui in St. Louis, Missouri. Menya Rui opened in 2022, and since, Steven has received numerous accolades for his job at the ramen shop, such as Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chef in 2023.Steven has the right reasons to be recognized as a great ramen chef. He grew up both in Japan and the U.S. as a child under his American and Japanese parents, so he has lots of fond memories of Japanese food and in particular, ramen.His soul search led him to study ramen in Japan, and his 24-seat ramen shop Menya Rui represents who he is now. For example, he makes everything from scratch, including noodles, which is highly challenging for even an experienced ramen chef in Japan.In this episode, we will discuss why Steven decided to pursue a career in ramen, what he learned in his three-year intensive training at ramen shops in Japan, his unique philosophy of ramen, his advice to future ramen chefs, and much, much more!Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonp

Our guest is Dr. Arielle Johnson. Arielle is a flavor scientist who advises some of the top chefs, restaurants, and bars in the world. For example, she co-founded the fermentation lab at the restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, which has been named the best restaurant in the world multiple times by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Arielle is currently the Science Director of Noma Projects and co-founder of Retronasal Industries among other important roles. Arielle is also the author of “Flavorama: A Guide To Unlocking The Art And Science Of Flavor”, which came out in March 2024. The book is a wonderful tool for all of us to understand the science of flavors and to apply it to our daily lives in fun and practical ways. In this episode, we will discuss how Arielle got into the world of tastes and flavors, the joy of applying science to top restaurants' kitchens in the world, how you can use food science in your daily life with tips from Arielle’s new book Flavorama and much, much more!Heritage Radio Network is a list

Our guest is Takuma Inagawa who is the founder and CEO of WAKAZE. WAKAZE is a unique and forward-minded producer of Japanese sake based in Paris, France. The Japanese sake industry has been facing challenges domestically due to various reasons, such as the decrease in the drinking population and the increase in competitive products in the market like wine and shochu. Compared to the peak of sake consumption in the 1970s, Japanese people drink only a quarter of sake now. Ironically, the government regulations are not helping to stop the decline as they restrict licensing new sake businesses that can revitalize the industry. However, WAKAZE is presenting a model to conquer the challenges by producing new styles of sake with traditional techniques and an innovative mindset. In this episode, we will discuss why Takuma left his successful career as a business consultant and decided to start a sake brewery in Paris, his out-of-the-box approach to sake production, how he managed to convince French consumers to drink