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!!!

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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!!!

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Our guest is Jun Mattison who is the assistant manager at The Rice Factory New York https://trf-ny.com/.  The Rice Factory New York is an importer, wholesaler and retailer of premium rice.  The company offers the best taste and flavor possible by fully controlling the quality of rice from farming, storing, milling and transporting.  

Rice is eaten all over the world but for Japanese people, it has particularly a special place in their hearts.  In Japan, rice is treated not as a side dish but as the main character of the meal.  Also, it is a symbol of love.  For example, people make rice balls for someone to express care and affection.

In this episode, we will discuss the unique Japanese mindset about rice, why Japanese rice is unique and can offer outstanding taste, texture and flavor, how to cook rice to maximize its deliciousness and much, much more!!!

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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.  

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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!!!

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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!!!

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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 York.

In this episode, we will discuss food pairings, in particular sake and non-Japanese food!!!

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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!!!

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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 food with wine and much, much more!!!

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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!!!

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