Japan Eats!

Updated: 30 Apr 2025 • 365 episodes
japan-eats.simplecast.com

What is Japanese food? Sushi, or ramen, or kaiseki? What about Izakaya? Akiko Katayama, a Japanese native, New York-based food writer and director of the New York Japanese Culinary Academy, tells you all about real Japanese food and food culture. With guests ranging from sake producers with generations of experience to American chefs pushing the envelope of Japanese gastronomy, Japanese cuisine is demystified here!

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Our guest is Takatoshi Kadowaki who is the chef-owner of Sushi Kadowaki https://sushi-kadowaki.jp/eng/ in Tokyo.  He started his sushi-chef training at 17 and after his master retired, he moved to the U.S. and developed a global mindset.  Now he serves authentic Edomae-style sushi in the Ginza area of Tokyo, where ever

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Our guest is Daniel Bennett who is the sake sommelier at Sushi-san www.sushisanrestaurant.com and The Omakase Room at Sushi-san www.theomakaseroom.com in Chicago.  Both are a part of Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, which is an independent, family-owned restaurant group that owns, manages and licenses more than 110 r

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Our guests are Régis Camus and Carl Hirschmann, co-founders of Heavensake https://www.heavensake.com/, which was founded in 2016.   Heavensake is truly unique.  It is the first sake producer that introduced the blending (assemblage) technique to the traditional sake-making process.  The mastermind behind Heavensake is

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Our guest is Hilo Mahelona who is the chef and founder of Hilo Beverly Hills https://www.hilobh.com/ in Los Angeles, California.   Growing up in Hawaii under Japanese and Hawaiian parents, Hilo has a unique yet authentic sushi-making philosophy.  And the moment you step into his restaurant, you will feel his bright, wa

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Our guest is Thomas Frebel who is the creative director at Noma https://noma.dk/.  Noma is the famed restaurant in Copenhagen with numerous accolades, including three Michelin stars and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ No.1 spot. Since its opening in 2003, Noma’s chef/owner René Redzepi has been inspiring the world thr

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Our guest today is Tim Anderson who is a chef and food writer based in London.  Tim’s early interest in Japanese food led him to global adventures in L.A., Japan and the U.K.  A bowl of ramen he encountered in L.A. fueled his passion for studying it and he moved to Fukuoka, Japan.  Then he opened his ramen restaurants

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