Masaharu Morimoto
With eight restaurants across the globe under his belt and an instantly recognizable face, chef Masaharu Morimoto has come a long way since his humble Hiroshima beginnings. The resilient Iron Chef was recently at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental to cook up a storm, saving a few breaths to tell Adele Wong about the realities of being that dreaded term: the celebrity chef.
On Fame
When I walk from my apartment to my restaurant [in New York] each day, it takes about 25 minutes, [and] someone will say, “Hi!” [along the way]. People also recognize me when I’m working [at my restaurant] and will ask, “Can I take a picture? Can I have an autograph?” I’m working, you understand. But they’ll say, “But I’m coming from—wherever—just to see you. ”It’s like when you go to Yankee Stadium to watch baseball, and tell Alex [Rodriguez], “Come! Can I take a picture with you?” The same thing happens to me. The restaurant business is more casual than baseball or basketball or professional sports, but I’m still a professional chef working in my field.
On Japan
Thirty to 40 years ago, the Japanese [didn’t like] foreign people coming [to their country, especially] if you couldn’t speak Japanese. Now they are very friendly. At Tsukiji market, they used to be like, “Get out of here!” But now, it’s like, “Welcome, welcome.” [After the Japanese earthquake], I did charity events four times in Hawaii, Philadelphia, New York and LA. I raised a lot of money to send to Japan. One of my sushi chefs working with me at Morimoto Waikiki [one of Morimoto’s restaurants]—his family’s house was all gone. I felt so sorry, but the only thing I could do was send money. It’s not enough, but we [just have to] do what we can.
On Iron Chef
I kind of miss Iron Chef. I miss [the other chefs]. But I don’t want to cook with them anymore. It was tough. [When I was on the show], I wasn’t cooking for judges, for the audience. I was challenging myself. A lot of people say, “You have a lot of experience [as a resident Iron Chef].” I did have a lot of experience, but I couldn’t do the same [things over and over]. So lots of experience meant I have to create even more different things. I’ve had about six battles with Bobby Flay. I don’t have any opinion on other chefs. I try to do my best, do my own thing.