Overview
Born in Kyoto, Japan, Chef Mitsunori Kusakabe came to food through an interesting path. He graduated from Kinki University with a degree in architecture. Chef Kusakabe feels that there can be a connection between cooking, food presentation, and architecture, “in the way we design and in how we build our flavors,” he says.
“I started training in restaurants when I was 18,” he shares. “At the same time my father passed away, so I had to work. I learned lessons from an older chef who asked me to operate the kitchen. The chef really liked me, and I started getting more serious. I studied more, a lot more. Then one day, I took a professional cooking Japanese test and I passed.”
Chef Kusakabe’s early culinary experiences captured his heart and helped shape his path moving forward.
“My grandfather lived in the U.S. for a little while, so when I was little, he told me about the U.S. I still remembered it, so I decided I wanted to come, but I didn’t have a job or a visa. I was looking for a job in Los Angeles. Then I found a job working in a restaurant in San Francisco. One day, I met a guy, he’s from my hometown, he had a restaurant and told me I could work there,” explains Chef Kusakabe.
“I was 22 when I started working in the U.S. Not many people liked raw fish. But in Japan, there are so many different types of fish. I tried to use different Japanese cooking techniques to introduce Japanese food and culture.”
His namesake restaurant Kusakabe opened in Jackson Square in 2014. Chef Kusakabe would go on to earn a Michelin Star, rise to international fame for his food, and serve sushi to President Barack Obama.
To this day, Kusakabe is all about proudly representing culture and introducing new items to its patron’s palates, such as Shirako, which is the milt or sperm sacs of male codfish. Shirako is served in both raw and cooked form in restaurants throughout Japan.
Media
