Local chef Mark Fischer serves up questions
for Chef Masaharu Morimoto

What does one chef ask another when they have the chance?

Recently, Mark Fischer, the James Beard Award–nominated chef of Carbondale’s Six89 and Phat Thai, had the chance to ask Chef Masaharu Morimoto—known to millions as star of TV shows “Iron Chef” and “Iron Chef America”—about food, inspiration and diversions. At this year’s Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Chef Morimoto will be teaching the seminar, “Japanese Knife Skills” to eager crowds, and not many wield a knife like Chef Morimoto.

Morimoto has garnered critical and popular acclaim for his seamless integration of Western and Japanese ingredients, effectively creating his own unique cuisine—one defined by innovation and inspiration. After moving to the Unites States from Japan in the 1980s, Morimoto was head chef at Nobu NYC. Today he is executive chef of his eponymous restaurants, Morimoto Philadelphia, Morimoto New York, Wasabi by Morimoto in Tokyo and New Delhi, Morimoto-XEX in Tokyo and Morimoto Sushi Bar in Boca Raton, Florida. This summer, Morimoto will open his first West Coast restaurant in Napa, California.

Mark Fischer: My creative process is driven by travel and reading classic cookbooks. What drives your creative process?

Masaharu Morimoto: Travel, of course, and customers’ reaction.  I really like interaction with people while they eat because it creates a situation where I want to think about what they like and what they enjoy, which does drive my creative motivation.

MF: Students to the profession might expect to reach the point where they feel as though they’ve mastered the sport, as it were … and some “chefs” seem to stop when they reach that point. Others seem to continue to progress and to move forward, and you’re certainly one of them. With everything you’ve accomplished, how do you continue to learn and progress as a chef?

MM: Technology improves, trends and people’s taste change. I need to keep striving to deal with those changes.

MF: What cookbook is on your nightstand? If not cookbooks, then what do you read for inspiration?

MM: I like looking through cookbooks with lots of pictures.  I can get most visually inspired. I don’t read recipes but look at photos of dishes in cookbooks. I like to imagine the taste looking at pictures.

MF: What motivates you to attend events like the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen? What does it provide, professionally, for a chef of your caliber?

MM: It is a great opportunity where I can meet other chefs.  Food & Wine Classic in Aspen is one of the most prestigious events in the country, and I always feel honored to participate in it and can get culinary inspiration.

MF: Sloppiness and disorganization in the kitchen makes me absolutely insane. It smacks of lazy. What annoys you? What are the rules of conduct in your kitchen?

MM: What I don’t like most in the kitchen is poorly maintained knives.

MF: If any one chef could prepare your last meal, who would it be?

MM: My wife.

MF: What one food could you eat every day for the rest of your life?  For me, bacon comes to mind, but too much of a good thing … do I choose to eat healthy and feel good, or do I opt for a life of decadence, hedonism, borderline gout? What do you choose?

MM: Japanese curry rice, which is different from Indian curry.

Thicker gravy and a little bit sweeter. It goes with Japanese rice.

MF: I often wonder about the outcome if I had taken a different path and not become a chef. Do you ever ponder the decision you’ve made or the path you’ve chosen?

MM: A professional baseball player. I was almost drafted to a professional baseball team in Japan, but I got a shoulder injury and had to give up my dream.

MF: Finding balance is one of the more difficult challenges in this business, and we all have certain outlets to get away from it all. Where do you go for fun and what do you do?

MM: Karaoke!

MF: Travel and staging in our off season(s) is one of the greatest ways to keep growing as a chef and as a cook. Finding our way into good kitchens with good chefs is a privilege and an honor. Can I come cook in yours?

MM: Why not?