He flies to Japan EVERY SINGLE WEEK...
One day I'll learn how to take a good food photo
I got to hang out w/ Austin’s top sushi chef (in Tokyo of all places), and although I’m sure he wasn’t meaning to school me, I learned some big lessons. It’s nuts that he flies from Austin to Tokyo every single week, but he does it for two main reasons.
In Edo-style sushi (traditional style, focused on the fish, not on fancy toppings) the quality of ingredients is paramount. You’re serving a tiny slice of fish with no truffles/caviar/spicy sauce to hide behind. Most american sushi restaurants (even the high end ones) get their fish from middleman US distributors. It’s the reason why no matter how many different sushi places you try, you always get the same few fish types that those distributors carry. This guy handpicks specific fish direct from the market in Tokyo then flies it back to Austin for his restaurant, so his lucky customers get unmatched quality and variety. Of course, for the best stuff at the fish market in Tokyo, you can’t just walk up to any counter with a wad of yen and pick whatever you want - you have to have a relationship with the supplier to get access. And the only way to create and grow these relationships is in person.
He already owns the hardest-seat-to-get sushi place in Austin, but instead of shifting to “how do I get more butts in seats and make more $$$” he only thinks of “how do I get even better at my craft?” So each week when he goes to Japan, he works at a sushi restaurant - not as a “special guest star chef guy”, but as a low level employee. He wants to learn from the best. The best happens to be a 15 hr flight away, so that’s where he goes.
I have so much more to share about this guy, but I’ll save some for a later date. In the meantime, let’s just appreciate that there are people like this chef that make Austin such an amazing place to be.
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