Well, I met my first non Asian sushi chef last Saturday. We had a gift
certificate for a Thai place for almost a year and a half and decided
to use it. The restaurant has a small, but functional sushi bar.

After we seated, I approached the bar and asked the chef what was good
today. He said the maguro, hamachi, and shiromi. I also asked if the
uni was good, and he responded yes. So I retreated to our table to look
over the menu.

We decided to get a mix of things, Thai and sushi. We had the unagi maki,
and a sushi moriawase with the Thai dishes. The unagi maki arrived first
with the Thai appetizers. It was more for my wife, she really likes eel.

The sushi arrived a little later, and the waiter mentioned that the chef
had put an extra uni on there for me to try. I guess it pays to ask.
And since we had ordered the unagi maki, he gave me anago on the assortment
instead. I split this with my son, since my wife isn't eating much sushi
lately.

The sushi was very good, the tekka maki that came with the moriawase had
thick pieces of maguro, and the uni was excellent. So I ordered uni for
dessert. They arrived with a tiny bit of wasabi on top and a lump on the
side. I thought this odd when I put some wasabi in the soy and it seemed
a little chunky. So I tasted some straight up, real wasabi.

So after our meal I decided to go and talk with the sushi chef. He was
extremely friendly, and glad to talk about sushi. Turns out he lives in
the same town as us, about 5 minutes away. He moved here two years ago
from Miami, and is originally from Honduras. He has been working as a
sushi chef for 10 years now and tried many of the local sushi bars in the
area to compare quality and skill. We talked for about 20 minutes and I
was impressed with his knowledge for someone with no formal training (as
far as I could tell).

So I think we will be going back again to try more sushi.
Lemon Tree Cafe
168 Great Rd.
Bedford, MA 01730

--
Dan

Dan, you have been very active on this site and I am very surprised
that you have never encountered a non Asian sushi chef. I just spent
the last several years living in NYC where there are many Latin people
behind the counters also.

I also spent way too much money at a week-long course at the California
Sushi Academy a couple of years ago and they claimed that they
"educate" many non Asian chefs, including Caucasians. In my
experience the majority of Asian sushi chefs in America are not
Japanese. I believe that there are more Chinese, Koreans and
Indonesians making sushi than Japanese people. We will be seeing many
more Latin people behind the counter in the future as sushi grows in
popularity. Sushi is a world-wide food and this diversity will be and
should be reflected behind the counters.

:-)
Paul



Dan Logcher wrote:
> Well, I met my first non Asian sushi chef last Saturday. We had a
gift
> certificate for a Thai place for almost a year and a half and decided
> to use it. The restaurant has a small, but functional sushi bar.
>
> After we seated, I approached the bar and asked the chef what was
good
> today. He said the maguro, hamachi, and shiromi. I also asked if
the
> uni was good, and he responded yes. So I retreated to our table to
look
> over the menu.
>
> We decided to get a mix of things, Thai and sushi. We had the unagi
maki,
> and a sushi moriawase with the Thai dishes. The unagi maki arrived
first
> with the Thai appetizers. It was more for my wife, she really likes
eel.
>
> The sushi arrived a little later, and the waiter mentioned that the
chef
> had put an extra uni on there for me to try. I guess it pays to ask.
> And since we had ordered the unagi maki, he gave me anago on the
assortment
> instead. I split this with my son, since my wife isn't eating much
sushi
> lately.
>
> The sushi was very good, the tekka maki that came with the moriawase
had
> thick pieces of maguro, and the uni was excellent. So I ordered uni
for
> dessert. They arrived with a tiny bit of wasabi on top and a lump on
the
> side. I thought this odd when I put some wasabi in the soy and it
seemed
> a little chunky. So I tasted some straight up, real wasabi.
>
> So after our meal I decided to go and talk with the sushi chef. He
was
> extremely friendly, and glad to talk about sushi. Turns out he lives
in
> the same town as us, about 5 minutes away. He moved here two years
ago
> from Miami, and is originally from Honduras. He has been working as
a
> sushi chef for 10 years now and tried many of the local sushi bars in
the
> area to compare quality and skill. We talked for about 20 minutes
and I
> was impressed with his knowledge for someone with no formal training
(as
> far as I could tell).
>
> So I think we will be going back again to try more sushi.
> Lemon Tree Cafe
> 168 Great Rd.
> Bedford, MA 01730
>
> --
> Dan

lazrowp wrote:
> Dan, you have been very active on this site and I am very surprised
> that you have never encountered a non Asian sushi chef. I just spent
> the last several years living in NYC where there are many Latin people
> behind the counters also.
> n
>
>
There is a Mexican-American sushi chef at "Sushi of Naples" in Pasadena.
Banters a bit in Japanese with the other two (nihonjin) itamae and does
good work.

What if he did not banter and instead kept his mouth shut but delivered
good sushi. Do you think it is important for sushi chefs to banter?



Geoff wrote:
> lazrowp wrote:
> > Dan, you have been very active on this site and I am very surprised
> > that you have never encountered a non Asian sushi chef. I just
spent
> > the last several years living in NYC where there are many Latin
people
> > behind the counters also.
> > n
> >
> >
> There is a Mexican-American sushi chef at "Sushi of Naples" in
Pasadena.
> Banters a bit in Japanese with the other two (nihonjin) itamae and
does
> good work.

What if he did not banter and instead kept his mouth shut but delivered
good sushi. Do you think it is important for sushi chefs to banter?



Geoff wrote:
> lazrowp wrote:
> > Dan, you have been very active on this site and I am very surprised
> > that you have never encountered a non Asian sushi chef. I just
spent
> > the last several years living in NYC where there are many Latin
people
> > behind the counters also.
> > n
> >
> >
> There is a Mexican-American sushi chef at "Sushi of Naples" in
Pasadena.
> Banters a bit in Japanese with the other two (nihonjin) itamae and
does
> good work.

lazrowp wrote:
> What if he did not banter and instead kept his mouth shut but delivered
> good sushi. Do you think it is important for sushi chefs to banter?
>
>
>
> Geoff wrote:
>>
>>There is a Mexican-American sushi chef at "Sushi of Naples" in
>
> Pasadena.
>
>>Banters a bit in Japanese with the other two (nihonjin) itamae and
>
> does
>
>>good work.
>
>

Yes.

In article .com>,
lazrowp > wrote:

> What if he did not banter and instead kept his mouth shut but delivered
> good sushi. Do you think it is important for sushi chefs to banter?

I do. I like hospitaliy, cordiality, amiable service personnel etc.

Do you think it's important to eat in silence?

--
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard Hosking
(Tuttle, '97). All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese food.

"The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro and
reference to sake.

I do not like eating in silence. Though there is a lot to say about
not having to answer someone who is insincere and is only talking with
you because of some "script" that they have been told to follow.


Gerry wrote:
> In article .com>,
> lazrowp > wrote:
>
> > What if he did not banter and instead kept his mouth shut but
delivered
> > good sushi. Do you think it is important for sushi chefs to
banter?
>
> I do. I like hospitaliy, cordiality, amiable service personnel etc.
>
> Do you think it's important to eat in silence?
>
> --
> "A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard
Hosking
> (Tuttle, '97). All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese
food.
>
> "The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro
and
> reference to sake.

lazrowp wrote:
> Dan, you have been very active on this site and I am very surprised
> that you have never encountered a non Asian sushi chef. I just spent
> the last several years living in NYC where there are many Latin people
> behind the counters also.

Maybe there aren't many Latinos coming to Boston looking for work as
a sushi chef. I did see one caucasian woman working behind the sushi
bar once, but I don' think she lasted long.

> I also spent way too much money at a week-long course at the California
> Sushi Academy a couple of years ago and they claimed that they
> "educate" many non Asian chefs, including Caucasians. In my
> experience the majority of Asian sushi chefs in America are not
> Japanese. I believe that there are more Chinese, Koreans and
> Indonesians making sushi than Japanese people. We will be seeing many
> more Latin people behind the counter in the future as sushi grows in
> popularity. Sushi is a world-wide food and this diversity will be and
> should be reflected behind the counters.

Of all the sushi places I've dined around here, only three are formally
trained Japanese sushi chefs. The rest are Chinese, Korean, Cambodian,
Thai. I prefer the sushi fromm the Japanese chefs though.

--
Dan

In article .com>,
lazrowp > wrote:

> I do not like eating in silence. Though there is a lot to say about
> not having to answer someone who is insincere and is only talking with
> you because of some "script" that they have been told to follow.

I didn't note anyone delighting in a script or insincerity.

--
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard Hosking
(Tuttle, '97). All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese food.

"The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro and
reference to sake.

I think with the increasing popularity of sushi the standards of sushi
prepped by non-Japanese chefs is increasing. I've had some fantastic
sushi prepared by a Nepali chef (Kawasaki in Baltimore) as well a by
latino chefs-in-training. In both cases they were trained by Japanese
chefs. The Latino chefs spoke to the older Japanese chef (papasan!) and
to the Japanese waitstaff in Japanese.

As far as 'formal' training goes, I don't know if non-Japanese chefs,
especially in the US will go through the whole long training process.
Do a few years count as formal training? I doubt it would in Japan.
Thus a 'trained-in-Japan' chef will have an advantage - just from the
longer training experience; this is more likely to be a person of
Japanese origin.


Das

Iamsushi wrote:
>
> As far as 'formal' training goes, I don't know if non-Japanese chefs,
> especially in the US will go through the whole long training process.
> Do a few years count as formal training? I doubt it would in Japan.
> Thus a 'trained-in-Japan' chef will have an advantage - just from the
> longer training experience; this is more likely to be a person of
> Japanese origin.

Formally trained at a Japanese academy, I guess. Most trained chefs I've
met have schooled for 6-10 years.

--
Dan

But that training happened at a restaurant, not at a sushi school.

Dan Logcher wrote:
> Iamsushi wrote:
> >
> > As far as 'formal' training goes, I don't know if non-Japanese
chefs,
> > especially in the US will go through the whole long training
process.
> > Do a few years count as formal training? I doubt it would in Japan.
> > Thus a 'trained-in-Japan' chef will have an advantage - just from
the
> > longer training experience; this is more likely to be a person of
> > Japanese origin.
>
> Formally trained at a Japanese academy, I guess. Most trained chefs
I've
> met have schooled for 6-10 years.
>
> --
> Dan

lazrowp wrote:

> But that training happened at a restaurant, not at a sushi school.

No, I refer to a sushi school. That is formal training.

--
Dan

Say Dan , that place isn't too far out of the way for me either. I'll
have to make a run down there sometime.

Jim

parrotheada1a wrote:

> Say Dan , that place isn't too far out of the way for me either. I'll
> have to make a run down there sometime.

Probably 20 - 25 minute drive. I plan to go back and sit at the bar,
since Benny seemed very excited to serve me some special items.
He mentioned something with an uni sauce, sounded good.

--
Dan

shawn wrote:

> Dan Logcher > wrote:
>
>
>>lazrowp wrote:
>>
>>
>>>But that training happened at a restaurant, not at a sushi school.
>>
>>No, I refer to a sushi school. That is formal training.
>
>
> So they were paying for 6-8 years? Now that's a kind of dedication
> I've never heard from any other country including the French. It seems
> more likely they spend a year or two in training and then serve in an
> apprenticeship where they are actually doing prep work for paying
> customers and work there way through the offerings.

That could be, I wouldn't know as I have no received the training.
Perhaps someone who knows can enlighten us all.

--
Dan

Dan Logcher > writes:

> Maybe there aren't many Latinos coming to Boston looking for work as
> a sushi chef. I did see one caucasian woman working behind the sushi
> bar once, but I don' think she lasted long.

That was at Sakura Bana. It was such a novel thing that it
was written up in the newspaper and had her picture, too, I
think.

I'm not sure why her tenure there was short - I think they
had some kind of management change not too long after that
(and raised prices and other unpleasantness). I haven't
been there in quite a while. Maybe I'll go today...


--
Plain Bread alone for e-mail, thanks. The rest gets trashed.
No HTML in E-Mail! -- http://www.expita.com/nomime.html
Are you posting responses that are easy for others to follow?
http://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/2000/06/14/quoting

wrote:

> Dan Logcher > writes:
>
>
>>Maybe there aren't many Latinos coming to Boston looking for work as
>>a sushi chef. I did see one caucasian woman working behind the sushi
>>bar once, but I don' think she lasted long.
>>
>
> That was at Sakura Bana. It was such a novel thing that it
> was written up in the newspaper and had her picture, too, I
> think.


Ah the good ole days.. weekly lunches.


> I'm not sure why her tenure there was short - I think they
> had some kind of management change not too long after that
> (and raised prices and other unpleasantness). I haven't
> been there in quite a while. Maybe I'll go today...

There was a major management change, and unfortunately it wasn't
for the better. I only recall seeing the woman behind the bar a
few times, I don't recall the timeline for her arrival, departure,
and the doomed management change.

--
Dan

While I have heard of sushi schools in Japan, I believe the majority of
chefs do not go to a school. Rather they join a sushi restaurant and
work their way up. I wonder what % of Japanese chefs actually go to a
sushi school? I doubt that the % is high but I do not know.

:-)
paul



Dan Logcher wrote:
> lazrowp wrote:
>
> > But that training happened at a restaurant, not at a sushi school.
>
> No, I refer to a sushi school. That is formal training.
>
> --
> Dan

lazrowp wrote:

> While I have heard of sushi schools in Japan, I believe the majority of
> chefs do not go to a school. Rather they join a sushi restaurant and
> work their way up. I wonder what % of Japanese chefs actually go to a
> sushi school? I doubt that the % is high but I do not know.

I've met three that have gone to the schools. Two were Japanese, one was
Chinese raised in Japan.

--
Dan

On 24 Feb 2005 12:54:26 -0800, "lazrowp" > wrote:

>While I have heard of sushi schools in Japan, I believe the majority of
>chefs do not go to a school. Rather they join a sushi restaurant and
>work their way up. I wonder what % of Japanese chefs actually go to a
>sushi school? I doubt that the % is high but I do not know.
>
I just happen to come across one. The cost is not cheap and it's in
Japanese, but you can see from the pictuers (called Tokyo Sushi
Academy)

http://academy.sushi.ne.jp/?OVRAW=%E...MTC=advance d

"lazrowp" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> While I have heard of sushi schools in Japan, I believe the majority of
> chefs do not go to a school. Rather they join a sushi restaurant and
> work their way up. I wonder what % of Japanese chefs actually go to a
> sushi school? I doubt that the % is high but I do not know.
>
> :-)
> paul
>

I believe that in general you are right. Most itamae in Japan start by
training/learning
under a known established itamae. Some start as teenagers and begin from the
most menial
of chores. While there certainly are "sushi schools", I suspect that for the
most part, these are relatively new establishments because even to this day
in Japan, there is no official certification for
a "Itamae" or "sushi chef". There is only a certification for Chourinin
(chef), and that covers
everything from French to Sushi. Therefore how experienced any chef may be
in the area
of "sushi" will depend on his years working with sushi, which
restaurants(s), and
who he trained under.
On the other hand, it is completely possible that with the world-wide demand
for sushi growing,
we will be seeing more "sushi-schools" opening up to cater to both Japanese
and foreign
aspiring itamaes.

M