Masayoshi Takayama (Masa)

The Michelin Man

One of America’s most celebrated Japanese chefs, three Michelin-starred chef Masayoshi “Masa” Takayama continues to set high standards, consistently delivering memorable dining experiences while pursuing new directions for Japanese dining in America.

Chef Masa grew up in Nasu, a small town north of Tokyo, where his parents owned a fish shop and catering business. When he and his siblings were not in school, they loaded fish into the shop's display case and delivered their father's sashimi to customers by bicycle. Masa began cooking in his teens and was drawn to creative activities like drawing, painting, modeling clay and sculpting wood. Today, sketching and sculpture remain central to Masa's creative process, as does Masa Designs, the hand- crafted ceramics he designs and uses in the restaurants. After high school, Masa moved to Tokyo where he was hired by well-known sushi restaurant, Ginza Sushi-ko as a dishwasher. Intrigued by the genuine joy he perceived in diners at the restaurant, he began to develop an interest in the culinary craft. Before long, he had worked his way up to sushi chef.

Soon after, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked at a number of small Japanese restaurants before opening his own Ginza Sushi-ko in 1983. It quickly attracted a devoted following and a rare four- star review from Los Angeles Times. Masa became famous for sourcing the very best ingredients available and, in the early years, would fly to Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market himself after dinner service each Saturday.

Masa received an offer to open a restaurant in New York City's newly built Time Warner Center and left Los Angeles to open Masa and Bar Masa in 2004. Masa soon garnered four stars from The New York Times (the only Japanese restaurant to do so in 20 years) and three Michelin stars soon followed. In 2014, Masa opened contemporary Japanese restaurant Kappo Masa on the Upper East Side with renowned art dealer Larry Gagosian.

In 2017, Masa debuted Tetsu, a traditional Japanese robatayaki in the heart of New York City’s TriBeCa neighborhood and his first downtown restaurant. Designed by Masa himself, the restaurant was born out of personal desire—during his early days of working in New York, chef was constantly looking for a place to relax after a long shift. Inspired by this search, Tetsu will offer a menu of comforting robatayaki dishes and small plates along with Masa’s first-ever burger.

This March, Masa opened Basement, a kaiseki restaurant beneath Tetsu. Basement’s open kitchen and intimate dining room is chef Masa’s playground for a rotating menu of elaborate proteins such as whole squab, A5 Wagyu beef, Ohmi beef roast and whole fish displayed on beds of ice. Chef Masa’s menu and preparations vary nightly according to availability and seasonality with steamed, roasted, fried and grilled preparations that reflect his latest inspirations and creativity.

In each new restaurant venture and in every life activity Masa strives to balance his commitment to tradition and excellence with his artist's desire to explore and innovate. His culinary creations exemplify the Japanese notion of kaiseki—the art form that seeks to discover and express a natural balance of taste, texture, appearance and color of food