“When it comes Yucatán food, I just get excited to show people my culture in a different way.”
"Even when I'm not working, I still love cooking. I still love to experience new flavors. For me, traveling is a way of learning."
Katsuji Tanabe
Chef & Restaurateur
Chef Katsuji Tanabe is “selfish” when it comes to his food, but not because he doesn’t want to share; it’s because he’ll often hunt down his own hunger to create the perfect dish. “If I crave something, I usually go and do research, and then I put it on my menu. It starts with inspiration, it’s like: What am I craving? What haven’t I had in a long time?” The result: A harmonious blending of his Mexican and Japanese heritage, where ingredients such as soy sauce, miso, and fish sauce add foundational layers (and a twist) to his more traditional Mexican menus. It’s a talent that has made him a competitor, and winner, on multiple cooking shows including Top Chef, Chopped, and Cooking Under Fire.
While he’s a natural when it comes to cooking on camera, Katsuji has been opening or reinventing restaurants across the United States for more than two decades, including the first ever MexiKosher restaurant in Los Angeles (more on that below). A native to Mexico City, Katsuji grew up exploring the world through food, be it making his first paella in the family kitchen at 6 years old or flying to the Yucatán with his grandfather, a pilot, who wanted him to experience the real food of the region. Katsuji left home at 18 and arrived in Los Angeles where he enrolled in culinary school, only to ditch the curriculum for on-the-job experience at Mastro’s Steakhouse in Beverly Hills, the now shuddered Bastide on Melrose, and later the kosher steakhouse Shiloh’s. From these humble beginnings to his TV stardom, one thing has remained constant—Katsuji still doesn’t see cooking as a profession. Every dish is a new discovery and its own passion project.