I swear Akira Akuto and I only talked a little bit about the sandwich. What sandwich? The Sandwich. You can read about it in The New York Times: The Egg Salad Sandwich That Drew Eyes on Instagram. Sandwiches are beautiful; sandwiches are fine. But Akuto, a crazy-talented Los Angeles chef with New York City lineage, sure doesn’t want to make them all the time. In this wide-ranging interview, we talk about the opening of his new Echo Park restaurant, Konbi, and how he ditched the world of investment banking and got his start cooking in NYC at Momofuku and Franny’s. He also talks honestly about what it’s actually like to open a restaurant in L.A. these days.

Also on today’s show, TASTE contributor Max Falkowitz answers a burning reader question: What exactly is uni? There’s a lot to…unpack here.

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