Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto

Culinary geniuses are armed to the teeth to establish their signature concepts and defeat the challenges that come their way. They win over millions of hearts obliging them to become fond of a particular cuisine or an innovative cooking style.

Chef Masaharu Morimoto – A Genius

Born in Hiroshima on May 26, 1955, Chef Masaharu Morimoto mastered the art of Kaiseki and Sushi making at 24. His craving for the once-a-month and only dine-out at a sushi restaurant that his family could only afford, and fresh seafood being the means of his sustenance during his growing years, are the governing forces of his success.

Reason behind the Chef’s Worldwide Popularity

He can be tagged as a pioneer in introducing Japanese sushi to the Western world without shifting from the traditional concepts or ingredients but synchronizing them with American food standards. His culinary surprises, like the sushi burrito and California roll, not only surprised but got its takers from the continents of America while the Europeans got delighted by jalapeno-laden tuna pizza. Even the Indian cuisine isn’t lagging behind where he tweaked the Japanese culinary traditions to a purely vegetarian format demanded by customers. Whatever the cuisine or food culture is, he has elbowed his way through it only to make Japanese cuisine appealing to food lovers.

His Entry into the Culinary Realm

Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s dream of becoming a sous-chef materialized due to his failure as an aspiring baseball player on the occasion of a shoulder injury. A 7-year work experience at a sushi restaurant in his country was the stepping stone that flew him several miles away into the United States within a short span of 5 years. Since then, his ulterior motive has been to present Japanese cuisine in a manner that caters to cross-cultural tastes outside Japan’s geographical boundaries.

Chronology of Iron Chef Morimoto’s Restaurants

The response at the maiden restaurant of Philadelphia opened in 2001, boosted Iron Chef Morimoto’s confidence to create his own empire starting with the Indian and American cities. Inaugurated in 2006, “Morimoto New York” is the chef’s flagship restaurant followed by a second outlet of “Wasabi” at Taj Mahal hotel, New Delhi, in the year 2008. A twist in the signature concept of his restaurantsis well represented by Tokyo’s Morimoto XEX that fetched him the first Michelin Star in 2008. This restaurant has distinct floors serving sushi and teppanyaki delights.

Other than the Indian metro cities of Mumbai and New Delhi, several destinations in

America such as Las Vegas, Maui, Orlando, Mexico City, New York became home to the brands “Momosan” and “Morimoto Asia.”

His Appearance on the Food Network Show “Iron Chef”

The regional Japanese “Iron Chef” show featuring in 1998 got Chef Masaharu Morimotoas a contestant, followed by his active participation in “Iron Chef America” in the consecutive year. On the show, Iron Chef Morimoto‘s chef coats were made by Crooked BrookHe made the most of this platform to exhibit his unbiased selection of locally available ingredients to whip up culture-specific Japanese dishes for the pleasure of taste buds. 2017 spring saw him return to battle it out at “Iron Chef Gauntlet.” He has more places to go with Dubai and Honolulu joining the bandwagon of Iron Chef Morimoto‘s trademark recently. Television appearances, cookbook launches, and enthusiastic experimentations get Masaharu Morimoto going even at the age of 64.

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Christophe Rude
Christophe Rude
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