Our guest is Hilo Mahelona who is the chef and founder of Hilo Beverly Hills https://www.hilobh.com/ in Los Angeles, California.

Growing up in Hawaii under Japanese and Hawaiian parents, Hilo has a unique yet authentic sushi-making philosophy.  And the moment you step into his restaurant, you will feel his bright, warm hospitality.  The combination of the two makes the restaurant very popular among sushi lovers and Hollywood celebrities alike.

In this episode, we will discuss how Chef Hilo got into sushi at a very young age, his earnest efforts to pursue deliciousness such as controlling the pH of his water for sushi rice, his principle of pairing sushi and wine and much, much more!!!

Our guest is Thomas Frebel who is the creative director at Noma https://noma.dk/.  Noma is the famed restaurant in Copenhagen with numerous accolades, including three Michelin stars and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ No.1 spot.

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 served as the executive chef at Noma’s restaurant project in Tokyo called INUA.  He joined us in Episode #338 and discussed his experience at INUA, Noma’s pop-up dinners in Kyoto in spring 2023 and many other topics.

In this episode, Thomas is back to talk about Noma’s latest pop-up dinner in Kyoto that ran for 10 weeks from September to December 2024.  He will share with us the new discoveries and flavor development by the Noma team in Kyoto, this time in the fall, and also what is the future of Noma going to be after the pop-up up and much, much more!!!

Our guest today is Tim Anderson who is a chef and food writer based in London.  Tim’s early interest in Japanese food led him to global adventures in L.A., Japan and the U.K.  A bowl of ramen he encountered in L.A. fueled his passion for studying it and he moved to Fukuoka, Japan.  Then he opened his ramen restaurants in the U.K. after winning the popular MasterChef competition on BBC One.  Now he writes and communicates his insight into various aspects of Japanese food culture.

It is remarkable and inspiring to see how Tim’s life unfolded into consecutive, unexpected lucky events through his interest in Japanese food.

In this episode, we will discuss how Tim got into Japanese food, his life in Japan studying ramen and Japanese food culture, how he won the MasterChef competition with his Japanese food knowledge and skills, his excellent books that cover a variety of topics,  including Nanban dishes and Hokkaido food culture and much, much more!!!

Our guest is Kumiko Hashimoto who grew up in the family of the 200-year-old sake brewery in Osaka.  She now plays a key role at Dojima Sake Brewery https://fordhamabbey.co.uk/ near Cambridge in the U.K., which the family founded in 2018.

Dojima Sake Brewery is the first sake brewery in the U.K.  It is known not just for the quality of sake it produces but the scale of the project.  The property is set in a historic, approximately 75-acre garden and pastureland.  And its sake is priced far above the regular premium sake for a good reason.

In this episode, we will discuss why the traditional sake brewery family decided to undertake such a huge, ambitious project, the joy and challenges of producing sake in Britain, the important mission of Dojima Sake Brewery for the entire sake industry and much, much more!!!

Our guest is Alexander Nicolau who is the founder of Mandaracha https://www.mandaracha.com/ in Kyoto, which opened in 2019.  Originally from France, Alex fell in love with Japanese tea while he was working in the fields of food technology and open innovation.

Mandaracha is a very special place where you can find a variety of Japanese tea, which Alex selected by visiting and meeting with each producer.  You can also enjoy a tea ceremony and have other cultural experiences, such as a Shamisen guitar performance and a Rakugo comedy show.

In this episode, we will discuss how Alex got into Japanese tea, why he loves Japanese tea so much, the classic and new types of Japanese tea Alex recommends, the rapidly changing tea market, the future of the Japanese tea industry and much, much more!!!

Social Handles:

IG  kyoto_mandaracha

https://www.facebook.com/MANDARACHA

https://www.linkedin.com/company/mandaracha/

And my guest today is Toshio Shinko who is the fifth-generation owner of Marushin Honke in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.  The company was founded in 1881 and since then, it has produced high-quality traditional Japanese food products, such as miso and soy sauce.  In 2002, in addition to managing Marushin Honke, Toshio founded the new company Yuasa Shoyu, or Yuasa Soy Sauce https://www.yuasasyouyu.co.jp/yuasa_gb_front.html in English to pursue the highest quality of soy sauce that reflects the family tradition.

Preserving tradition is hard and even harder is to keep it fresh in response to the fast-changing environments.  Toshio has been very successful in doing so and a great example is his innovative idea of making soy sauce in Bordeaux, France https://www.yuasasyouyu.co.jp/yuasa_gb.html in collaboration with the well-established Grand Cru winery Chateau Coutet in Saint Emilion.

In this episode, we will discuss how Toshio’s company produces premium soy sauce with wood barrels, which is rare these days, how he came up with the idea of making soy sauce in the French wine country, why the French winery wants to make soy sauce with Toshio, how his Bordeaux-made soy sauce is different, why French chefs love using it and much, much more!!!

Here is a fabulous YouTube video, that captures how Toshio makes soy sauce with the French partner Adrien David Beaulieu, the owner of Chateau Coutet and his team.  

https://www.marushinhonke.com/f/marushin

(Scroll further down and click on “We want to spread Yuasa soy sauce to France!”)

Here are some of the restaurants that uses Toshi’s Bordeaux-made soy sauce:

·       Maison nouvelle, Etchebest　nouvelle.fr/">https://maison-nouvelle.fr/　

·       Lalique, Lafaurie Peyraguey Schilling　　https://www.lafauriepeyragueylalique.com/en/michelin-starred-chef-jerome-schilling-unveils-his-autumn-menu/　

·       Skiff Club, Stéphane Carrade　　https://haaitza.com/les-restaurants-cafe-bar-brasserie-restaurant-etoile-arcachon/　

·       Le Prince Noir, Vivien Durand　　restaurant.fr/">https://leprincenoir-restaurant.fr/　

·       L opidom etoilé Fondette　　https://www.lopidom.fr/fr/　

Our guest is Emily Yuen who is the executive chef at Lingo https://www.lingobk.com/, a unique Japanese American restaurant in Brooklyn, New York.

Emily has an impressive culinary background.  She worked at top French restaurants in the world, including Le Gavroche in London, DB Bistro in Singapore and Boulud Sud in New York. She also studied Japanese cuisine at the legendary Shojin restaurant Kajitsu and served as the executive chef at Bessou in New York.

At Lingo, with her global knowledge and experience, Emily offers original dishes, such as Hokkaido-style braised beef curry pie and Donabe hotpot with wild mushroom and koji butter.

In this episode, we will discuss how Emily’s culinary focus shifted from French to Japanese, the essence of Japanese cuisine that she wants to share with her guests, how she naturally merges French techniques and Japanese flavors, the importance of Japanese home cooking in her menu development and much, much more!!!

Our guest today is Yoshihiko Shida who is the chief Instructor of Tokyo College of Sushi & Washoku London www.sushicollege.uk, which opened in September 2024.  The opening is exciting since the school is the first major Japanese culinary school in Europe.  Chef Shida has worked as an educator and instructor in Japanese culinary institutes for over 32 years. Before that, he gained over 10 years of practical experience in a variety of restaurant and hotel kitchens in Japan and abroad.

In this episode, we will discuss the growing demand for sushi and Japanese cuisine chefs, what programs Tokyo College of Sushi & Washoku London offers, who is studying at the school, the joy and challenges Chef Shida faces in teaching his students and much, much more!!!

Our guest is Rafal Maslankiewicz who is the chef at Ikigai www.ikigai.nyc in New York, which opened in July 2024.  Ikigai is a very unique concept.  First of all, it is a not-for-profit organization, which is highly unusual for a restaurant.  Secondly, beyond covering the fundamental costs of running a business, all proceeds are donated to a food bank.  In fact, 80 days after the opening, Ikigai donated over $12,000, which funds 63 tons of food.

And what makes Ikigai popular and enables such donations possible is Rafal and his team’s excellent food menu and service.  With his impressive culinary training at top restaurants under his belt, such as Masa and Eleven Madison Park in New York, he offers creative dishes inspired by Japanese traditions.

In this episode, we will discuss the unique concept of Ikigai, how Rafal got into Japanese cuisine after working at serious French kitchens, the meaning of the term Ikigai and much, much more!!!

Our guest is Kakuho Aoe https://www.instagram.com/kakuhoaoe_nakamichi0316/ who is the chief Buddhist priest of the Ryokusenji Temple in Asakusa, Tokyo.

Kakuho Aoe joins me to discuss why food is important in the Buddhist practice and beyond, why the Buddhist diet called Shojin Ryori is great diet for vegan, vegetarian and sustainable-minded people regardless of their religion, the eye-opening dinner events “Kuayami Gohan” (Dining in the Dark) and much, much more!!!