Tetsuya Wakuda Famous International Chef Tetsuya Wakuda

Tetsuya Wakuda

Famous international chef Tetsuya Wakuda came from the Japanese town of Hamamatsu. Wakuda came to Australia at the age of 22 with "nothing more than a small suitcase and a love of food" (About Tetsuya 2012). His first job was working as a kitchen hand at Fishwives in Surry Hills. Wakuda then went to work for Tony Bilson at Kinsela's. Bilson was seeking a Japanese cook to make sushi. However, at Kinsela's, Wakuda went far beyond being a sushi chef; that is where he learned classical French techniques. It was also there he began his fusion of French/Japanese cuisine.

However, Wakuda's success as a chef did not immediately translate into success as a restaurant owner. Wakuda and the former head waiter at Kinsela's went into a partnership together and opened Ultimo's. Ultimo's was essentially a failure, but it gave Wakuda some experience as a restaurant owner, preparing him for sole ownership of his restaurant. In 1989, Wakuda opened his own restaurant, Tetsuya's, in Rozelle, a suburb of Sydney. In 2000, he relocated the restaurant, designing the space so that its dining rooms overlooked a Japanese garden. In fact, art has been almost as important to Wakuda's success as his cooking. According to Wakuda, "Art creates ambience but it's very personal. I like art a lot and that is my passion so the restaurant itself reflects that. People come here to escape from the everyday world, so when they come through the gate we cook for them, serve them what they want and they can enjoy the environment and the art the garden. It's a package. This is our style and it's not right or wrong. This is what people expect and it's what we give. This is Tetsuya's" (Paskin 2012).

While Wakuda might be known as a fusion-chef, he is widely known for promoting traditional Japanese food traditions. He was "selected as the Japanese sake industry's first overseas Sake Samurai (or ambassador) in 2006" (About Tetsuya 2012). This is because his food has a very Japanese flair. "Tetsuya embraces and adapts many of the elements of the finest type of Japanese dining, kaiseki, which has roots in Zen Buddhism and the Japanese tea ceremony. Kaiseki meals were developed to welcome guests with a series of exquisitely presented courses based on the freshest seasonal ingredients. Tetsuya takes many of these principles to heart, offering tasting menus with numerous courses highlighting local Australian ingredients, courses highlighting local Australian ingredients, such as grass-fed lamb and seafood delicacies like abalone and prawn, perfectly presented in artful small plates" (Snowden 2006).

He is also considered one of the most influential chefs in the world, not simply because of his fusion cooking, but because of the styles of cooking he has employed. Sous vide-type cooking has become extremely popular, but Wakuda has been doing sous-vide for more than 20 years. In fact, when he began the practice it was considered controversial, because of the costs associated with it. However, Wakuda wanted to do it, so he built the equipment to do it in his kitchen (Paskin 2012). That commitment to his individual drive is one of Wakuda's hallmarks. Moreover, Wakuda's influence goes beyond his restaurant. "Tetsuya has introduced some of his most loved and admired recipes to kitchen and book shelves across the globe, with his cookbook Tetsuya, and expanding range of gourmet product" (About Tetsuya 2012).