Sushi lovers wait hours to feast on the creations of Master Sushi Chef Katsuya Uechi. Crispy rice with spicy tuna. Yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño. Miso-marinated black cod. These and other signature dishes are the foundation for chef Katsuya’s sushi empire, which started with a tiny restaurant on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City and has grown to include 14 restaurants nationwide and a sushi school in Downtown L.A., where he grooms fresh talent. The 53-year-old Japanese native opened his first Katsu-ya restaurant in 1997, after more than a decade of working in other Los Angeles area sushi restaurants. Nestled in a strip mall, his restaurant has attracted a loyal following of foodies, celebrities, CEOs, and culinary students. While some consider him the toast of the Los Angeles sushi scene, chef Katsuya says he is amazed at how popular his food has become and how much his brand has grown in recent years. The newest restaurant, The Little Izaka-ya, opened in Sherman Oaks in July. Earlier this year, he opened restaurants in Houston, Miami and San Diego through a partnership with SBE Entertainment Group, a Los Angeles-based company with several high-end hotels, restaurant and nightclub venues. Now, chef Katsuya says he’s looking at expanding overseas, including with his own Van Nuys-based company Katsu-ya Group. Question: Where did you learn to make sushi? Answer: I went to culinary school in Osaka, Japan. And after that I went back to Okinawa, back to a small Island in the most south part of Japan, and I started working in restaurants and hotels. I was 18 when I started. Culinary school was one year. I moved to Los Angeles after six years — so when I was 24 — in 1984. Q: Why Los Angeles? A: When I was working at a hotel, I had an opportunity. A customer came in the sushi bar and they were talking about Los Angeles and they wanted to open a restaurant in Los Angeles. So I asked him, ‘Can I go? Can I go?’ And he goes, ‘OK, do you want to go?’ Then I came after one year. Q: When did you open your first restaurant in Studio City? A: It was (opened at the) end of 1997. I wanted to open a business since I was 18. I always wanted my own restaurant. Q: What’s your favorite sushi? A: My favorite sushi is tuna. It’s simple and tasty. Q: Why did you open your restaurant in Studio City on Ventura Boulevard? A: This place used to be a Japanese restaurant and I didn’t have much money. So this place was cheap to take over and I didn’t have to change the décor. After I paid everything I only had $800 and that was for my family and running the restaurant. Q: How do you describe your sushi style? A: I like to eat traditional and I like to make traditional, but this is the U.S. So if I go really traditional I don’t know if people are going to like it or not. That’s why I cook with a little bit of American ingredients and the Japanese style mixed together. That’s why I think my customers like it. Q: When you started your business, did it grow quickly? A: No, it didn’t! One year it was very slow. Very slow and tough, especially lunch time. I would climb up in the back (behind the restaurant). There is a little hill and I would climb up over there and I was sitting (with arms crossed, waiting). The cars would be coming into the parking lot. I would think, ‘Is that my customer?’ My wife was staying in the restaurant and when a customer would come in she would call me. So I would come down, run in here, wash my hands and start making food. Q: What do you think of the popularity of sushi? A: It’s good for my business. There was a boom in the beginning of the ‘80s when people started to eat it. Then it went flat. Then in the middle of the ‘90s it went boom again and then it kept going. Why do I think (that happened)? It’s healthy, clean and you don’t get tired of it. You can eat it two, three times a week. Q: Why do you think you are so popular? What makes your food special? A: I really have no idea. But I always create a dish (and) I think, ‘Do I want to eat it or not?’ and ‘Is it going to match to the people around here or not?’ I always think that. Q: Do you like other types of food besides sushi? A: I like prime rib. It’s simple. Q: Why did you partner with SBE? A: About six to seven years ago they approached me and I had been saying, ‘No, no, I don’t want any partners.’ But they kept approaching me. And then after 10 months to a year, they asked me to go to their offices. They were nice offices and clean, and people had a good energy. I said, ‘Well, let’s try. And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.’ And we did it first in Brentwood, (and it was) busy. Hollywood, busy. Glendale, so-so. Downtown, good. Laguna Beach is good. We opened up already this year in Houston and Miami. But I didn’t think it would go this far. Q: You also have your Katsu-ya Group with many other restaurants such as The Izaka-ya and Kiwami. Why did you open so many places? A: It’s a challenge, no? And I have a lot of good chefs and employees. Q: What’s the meaning behind the different names? A: Izaka-ya is kind of little foods and drinks and the price is not too high. It’s very reasonable. You cannot only have sushi but other Japanese foods. Kiwami I wanted to make in a more traditional way, but I did it for two years and it didn’t work well. I changed it a little bit and now it’s busy. Q: How much time do you spend in the kitchen? A: I want to spend as much as I can, but nowadays I’m in the office a lot of the time. I have a lot of things to deal with. Right now we just opened a small one on Sepulveda (The Little Izaka-ya) so I am always there making food. But normally I am travelling to Houston, Miami and I am planning to open in Hawaii. When I have time, I try to stop at the other places (restaurants.) In a week, about one third of my time is in the kitchen. Q: And you miss it? A: Yes. Q: Do you cook a lot at home? A: Not really. At home my wife cooks. She is a good cook. Q: Do you think sushi is more of an art or a science? A: Sushi is a food. A lot of people think art of this, art of that. But once you put a dish in your mouth it’s gone. It’s not an art. It’s a food. Q: What do you think makes for really great sushi? A: Great sushi is very simple: technique, knowledge and heart. Heart when you sit in front of me at the sushi bar. We do a greeting and I look at you. I start thinking, ‘What is she going to like?’ And if you give me a first order, I kind of know. I always think when you make food your heart should be making your food for your family, for your girlfriend, for your parents. Then you try and make it nicer. That’s what I always tell my chefs. Q: Why did you open the sushi chef school downtown? A: I was thinking for 10 years about it. Then I started opening several places, so it was hard to find good chefs. But after school… you aren’t going to be good. It’s only three months. But after that, they start working for my place. I have a couple here (Studio City), a couple in Kiwami and in other locations, too. After three years they might be good, but not after school. School is just a place to step into being a sushi chef. Q: The knives you use are no joke. Any stories with using them? A: I cut myself many times. A lot. When you start using it, it’s like your hand. It fits on you. Q: What do you do on your free time? A: I just lay down on the couch and watch movies. That’s it. I have grandchildren and I play with them. That’s all I do. Q: How many hours a day do you work? A: I’m trying to take Sunday off, but Monday through Saturday whatever I have to do. If I have to work 15 hours, then I have to. Q: How are you as a manager? A: I think I am a bad manager. I have a lot of good staff. That’s why even when I’m bad it’s OK. Q: Are you a tough boss? A: I am, oh yes. Sometimes my chef makes dish for customer and when I see I give it back to them (and ask) ‘Do you want to pay 12 bucks?’ They say, ‘Ehhh.’ (And I say) ‘That means yes or no?’ They say, ‘Ehhh.’ Then boom — I throw it into the trash. People are coming to enjoy the time, enjoy the food. Why should you charge if you don’t want to eat it? Q: What do you want the customer to feel when they eat your sushi? A: It’s very basic, but I want them to enjoy it and make them want to come back. Smiling. That’s it. Q: What part of being a sushi chef do you like best? A: At Kiwami, I have a small bar and its hidden, called omakase bar. I make nine courses including maybe 12 different kinds of sushi — some cooked, some raw. When I am making and standing over there and I see someone really enjoying, that’s the best. That makes me happy. Q: Is there anything about running the business that you like? A: Restaurant business is really tough. A lot of complaining. Long hours. Tough hours. But I don’t know, somehow I like food. I like cuisine. That’s why I’m doing it. That’s why I keep doing it. Q: What would you do if you weren’t a sushi chef? A: When I was in high school, I wanted to be a cop. Q: Do you have plans to grow the business? A: Hawaii now and I got an offer in Mexico and Panama — we’ll see. And SBE is going to the Middle East, (and) New York. Q: You have to travel a lot. Do you like to travel? A: No. I hate being in the airplanes. L.A. is the best. Even when I go to Japan for one week or 10 days, when I come here I feel like and think that I am home. Q: Where do you get inspiration for new dishes? A: I go out to eat a lot and it gives me ideas. I go to a lot of local places in the Valley. When I see a good dish — doesn’t matter if it’s Italian or French — I think, ‘How can I turn this to Japanese?’ Q: What do you think about all of the cooking shows on TV? A: It’s good, a good challenge. But food is not like that. Food you don’t rush. Sometimes you need to, but you don’t go crazy like that. You have to enjoy cooking and enjoy eating the food. Don’t you think? Q: Do you recall any special moments from the kitchen? A: I used to cook for the Japanese General Counsel, maybe once a month, when VIP people came from Japan. That’s the most nervous I was – when I had to make it good and with a nice presentation for them. But I enjoyed it. Q: What do you think are some of your good dishes? A: I just started making new dishes on Sepulveda and a lot of people like tuna with yellow beets and arugula salad. Q: How did you know when you were successful? A: Well, people say that. But me, I never thought that I’m there. Q: Do you think of retiring? A: No, I can’t. I want to be a chef until I die. I have a son who is a chef, too. He is still young, but I hope he will take over my business.
Sushi Master
