Sushi's next generation: Tradition vs. taste
Growing number of sushi restaurants turning away from Japanese-trained chefs
Kenji Kim is on a roll.
Ten weeks after California Garden Sushi opened in Rancho Cucamonga, the sushi chef is in bustling mode, working a crowded bar during a recent lunch hour. Kim's specialties, most still unnamed, are in the form of intricate rolls, using sashimi, crab salad, sea eel and sometimes cream cheese, between pillows of shaved daikon.
"A good sushi chef thinks with their eyes and their tongues," said Kim, adding that his spicy tuna rolls are unique because of his special hot sauce.
But perhaps what makes Kim special is that he is of Korean descent and joins a growing number of non-Japanese immigrants who are getting their hands on a culinary art that was once strictly under Japanese tutelage.
In recent years, sushi has become more mainstream, found not just in high-end Santa Monica eateries but also in small restaurants tucked behind the student-friendly streets of Claremont and up and down Foothill Boulevard in Upland. And as the Japanese-American population dwindles across California, other immigrants are filling the gap in the sushi business.
Andy Matsuda, founder of Sushi Chef Institute in Los Angeles, said about 70 percent of Japanese restaurants in Southern California are owned by non-Japanese immigrants - mostly with Korean, Chinese, Thai and Filipino backgrounds.
His students, who attend the school to learn everything from sharpening sushi knives to restaurant management, also reflect this diversity. As a restaurant consultant, Matsuda expresses concern that many non-Japanese owners and chefs are untrained.
"Non-Japanese people are controlling the sushi business and the industry is not going in a good direction," Matsuda said.
External Source - For the complete article click here
Source - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Ten weeks after California Garden Sushi opened in Rancho Cucamonga, the sushi chef is in bustling mode, working a crowded bar during a recent lunch hour. Kim's specialties, most still unnamed, are in the form of intricate rolls, using sashimi, crab salad, sea eel and sometimes cream cheese, between pillows of shaved daikon.
"A good sushi chef thinks with their eyes and their tongues," said Kim, adding that his spicy tuna rolls are unique because of his special hot sauce.
But perhaps what makes Kim special is that he is of Korean descent and joins a growing number of non-Japanese immigrants who are getting their hands on a culinary art that was once strictly under Japanese tutelage.
In recent years, sushi has become more mainstream, found not just in high-end Santa Monica eateries but also in small restaurants tucked behind the student-friendly streets of Claremont and up and down Foothill Boulevard in Upland. And as the Japanese-American population dwindles across California, other immigrants are filling the gap in the sushi business.
Andy Matsuda, founder of Sushi Chef Institute in Los Angeles, said about 70 percent of Japanese restaurants in Southern California are owned by non-Japanese immigrants - mostly with Korean, Chinese, Thai and Filipino backgrounds.
His students, who attend the school to learn everything from sharpening sushi knives to restaurant management, also reflect this diversity. As a restaurant consultant, Matsuda expresses concern that many non-Japanese owners and chefs are untrained.
"Non-Japanese people are controlling the sushi business and the industry is not going in a good direction," Matsuda said.
External Source - For the complete article click here
Source - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
