Japan Eats

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined by Shota Nakajima, the chef and owner of Naka in Seattle. Chef Shota began his culinary journey at the age of sixteen, working for a well-acclaimed sushi restaurant in his hometown of Seattle, WA. At the age of eighteen, Nakajima moved to Osaka, Japan to learn about the art of Japanese cuisine. In Japan, Nakajima had the opportunity to work for Michelin Star rated Chef Yasuhiko Sakamoto. As one would expect, this experience changed Chef Shota’s perspective on cooking. Since returning to Seattle, it has been Nakajima’s dream to convey Chef Sakamoto’s approach to hospitality and Japanese cuisine in the United States.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Leonard Phillips, the owner of Ambassador Wines & Spirits in Midtown Manhattan. Leonard’s original calling in life was to be a biochemist and ultimately become a physician in the military, but he found his true passion in working for the business his family started in 1973. In addition to wine and liquor, Ambassador's selection of Sake, Soju and Sochu is one of the best in New York City.

Elizabeth Andoh was born and raised in America and is not ethnically Japanese, but Japan has been her home for more than four decades. She received her formal culinary training from the Yanagihara School of Traditional Japanese Cuisine in Tokyo. In 1972, she began her own culinary arts program, A Taste of Culture, that combines spicy tidbits of food lore with practical tips and skill-building lessons on how to prepare Japanese food. Andoh lectures internationally on Japanese food and culture, and is the author of six books on Japanese cooking, including two IACP award-winners, An Ocean of Flavor (Morrow, 1988) and Washoku (Ten Speed, 2005). She was Gourmet's Japan correspondent for more than three decades and was a regular contributor to the New York Times travel section for many years.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined by Stefen Ramirez of Tea Dealers, which aims to introduce premium teas to America by offering only rare, single origin teas from Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and India and pairing them with contemporary artisanal ceramics from around the world. Stefen first started in the tea business at the NYC flagship of one of Japan’s largest tea companies as a tea specialist and buyer in 2003. Two years later, Tea Dealers began, exclusively, as a private client business that curated luxury tea collections for high profile individuals. In April 2015, Tea Dealers made its selections available to the public online, and also at its first retail store. It is located inside of the Japanese restaurant, 1or8 in the south side of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and offers free weekly tea tastings on Tuesday and Sunday afternoons. There is no reservation needed and you are welcome to walk in anytime.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined by Hiroko Shimbo, an authority on Japanese cuisine who has earned world-wide recognition. She is a chef-instructor at respected culinary schools, a consulting chef to diverse food service industries, and a cookbook author based in the United States since 1999. Her latest book, Hiroko’s American Kitchen: Cooking with Japanese Flavors, was selected from among 500 books to receive the IACP 2013 Cookbook Award as the best American cookbook of the year. Hiroko’s American Kitchen offers an entirely new perspective on Japanese cooking. Rather providing instruction for preparing authentic Japanese cuisine, the book focuses on a larger audience of cooks by integrating Japanese flavors and cooking techniques with readily available produce, meats and seafood to recreate dishes already familiar to the America table but with unique added appeal.

Today on Japan Eats, we're joined by restaurant consultant Atsushi Nakahigashi, who's swinging by New York all the way from Kyoto. Nakahigashi is from a long line of chefs and restaurateurs, but before settling on a career in food, he tried his hand at professional bass fishing for several years.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Tomoko Kato, an alum of Bouley and Le Bernardin who is behind the dessert bar at Patisserie Tomoko. A unique pastry shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Patisserie Tomoko combines French and European style pastries with a touch of Japanese inspired tastes and flavors.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by managers Luke Davin and Emma Kramer of Osakana fish market. Osakana is a Japanese-style fish retailer dedicated to providing high-quality, local, and seasonal seafood to the community. Here, customers will find fresh, expertly sourced fish, prepared and presented with respect by the team behind Okonomi. They offer a careful selection of local seafood for customers to purchase, and also provide a community space in which people can learn more about these ingredients through discussions, meals, tastings, and classes.

On the season premiere of Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Henry Sidel, president of Joto Sake. Joto is Japanese for “highest level," and is the exclusive importer for several multi-generational, family-owned breweries in Japan. Their bottles feature English-language labels with producer names, locations and helpful tasting notes. With distribution in over 35 states, and top wholesale distributors in each market, Joto is recognized by distributors, buyers, consumers and the press as the finest sake importer in the category.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Shingo Gokan, head bartender of Angel’s Share and winner of the Bacardi Global Legacy Cocktail Competition. Tune in to hear them discuss how he began bartending in Japan at the age of 18 and came to New York in 2006 not knowing a word of English, only to become the “World’s Best Bartender” a short time later.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Chris Johnson, aka The Sake Ninja. As a sake sommelier, Johnson is one of the foremost experts on sake in the United States. Tune in to hear them discuss the differences between sake varieties, food pairings, sake judging competitions, and more!

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Jesse Falowitz, whose long travels around Asia finally lead to his opening a shōchū business in Japan. Falowitz calls shōchū the predecessor to whiskey in Japan, and puts its flavor profile "somewhere between a sake, a whiskey, and a vodka." He tells us all about how the drink is made, why single distillation matters, and shōchū's possible next conquest: the cocktail bar.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Japanese tea ceremony instructor Keiko Kitazawa Koch. Keiko was born and raised in Nara, Japan, a historically and culturally rich part of Japan. She has carried a deep sense of Japanese tradition since childhood. Her first education in Japanese tea ceremony started with the Musyanokoji-style (武者小路流). She was trained in her earlier years, in Nara. Keiko teaches Omotesenke-style (表千家流) tea ceremony in her own tea room in New Jersey, and also at a location in Brooklyn. Her students develop deep interest in “Chaji” which is the formal tea ceremony, held throughout the year, spanning all four seasons. Keiko also demonstrates and teaches in schools in New Jersey, Brooklyn, and New York City. Keiko's class schedule: http://murasakinj.exblog.jp/i8/ Keiko's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/moonlightnj

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Chef Shigetoshi Nakamura, who recently debuted his first restaurant in the United States. Hailed as one of only 4 "Ramen Gods" Chef Naka experienced colossal success in Japan after he opened Nakamura-Ya when he was 22. Always seeking to share his craft with America, he partnered up with Sun Noodle, the leading US-based ramen noodle manufacturer, and started building up a network state side. In the US, Chef Nakamura debuted at Sun Noodle's "Ramen Lab" where he again received critical acclaim. With a network of support created through Sun Noodle, and the success at Ramen Lab, Chef Naka was ready to open his own shop: Nakamura.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Tama Matsuoka Wong, a forager, weed eater, meadow doctor, lawyer and mother of three. She is the author of the backyard field guide and cookbook Foraged Flavor, which was nominated for a James Beard award in 2013. After graduating from Harvard Law School and serving more than 25 years as a financial services lawyer in Tokyo, New York and Hong Kong, she returned with her family to Hunterdon County, New Jersey and rediscovered her passion for the natural world. In 2007 she was named Steward of the Year by the New Jersey Forest Service.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Everett Kennedy Brown, a photographer working in Japan for the past 28 years whose work has appeared in National Geographic, Geo, Time, Newsweek, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, The New York Times, and more. He is also interested in exploring techniques of the glass plate collodion photographic process, in an effort to capture the ambient mood of a place on film. In addition to his photographic and writing activities, Brown has established a Japanese farm with his wife, the popular cookbook writer Deco Nakajima. Located one hour east of Tokyo, near the Pacific coast, Brown’s Field (www.brownsfield-jp.com) and the country inn Jiji no Ie (www.jijinoie.com) reflect his vision of an ideal rural Japanese experience. To see Everett's fascinating photos created by the 19th century technology that brings the past alive: http://www.modernclassic.jp/ To see Everett's inspiring TED Talk about how cultural memories make your life engaging and delightful https

Filmmaker Erik Shirai joins us in the studio to tell us all about the making of his latest documentary, The Birth of Saké, which grants an inside look at the art of sake creation in a Japanese brewery. Shirai and his producer managed to get access to the brewery at a time of transition, as a younger brewmaster was starting to take greater responsibility.

On this week's episode of Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by ice sculptor Shintaro Okamoto. He is the owner of Okamoto Studio, a New York-based collective best known for their design, production, and consultation of everything made of crystal clear ice. Father-son Takeo and Shintaro Okamoto make up the founding core of the group, which was formed in 2003 with a mission of showcasing in the full beauty and potential of handcrafted ice. Okamoto Studio has fast become a favorite among the event, hospitality, culinary, fashion, and media industries for their articulate and fanciful use of both traditional hand-tool craftsmanship and current art-world sensibilities.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Kumiko Jitsukawa, the founder of Ki-Chu New York, a traditional Japanese tableware company dedicated to enhancing appreciation of the Japanese dining experience. Jitsukawa was born in Yokohama, Japan. She studied space design at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, moved to New York in 2001, and studied at New York School of Interior Design. She worked at the renowned lighting design firm, L’Observatoire International. She specialized in hospitality design and has overseen various high-profile projects such as Jean-George Vongerichten's restaurant Jean-Georges.

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Zach Mangan, the founder of the kettl tea compay. Sourced from Nagano’s famed buckwheat, the hills of Hoshinomura, and elsewhere in Japan, kettl’s top-tier teas are served at New York restaurants such as Atera and Brushstroke and sold online for at-home consumption. Their catalog of clients have been awarded 16 Michelin stars and counting. Tune in to hear them discuss Zach's path from musician to tea importer, regional differences between Japanese green tea producers, and more.