6 Questions with Shota Nakajima

What does travel mean to you?

Travel means experience and knowledge. I think going to different countries is very humbling. I grew up in Japan and I grew up in the United States. I grew up being confused about different cultures at times because, you know, they were two completely different common senses. As I grew up and traveled more to different countries, I saw cultures I had never seen before. You are just humbled at how big the world is – there’s so much out there.

How would you describe your culinary background?

I would say my background is old-school Japanese. I did Japanese fine dining cuisine for 18 years of my career. I did Chinese, French, and Italian for a little bit, but I was cooking pretty much Japanese my entire career. So, the core of how I think about food, how I create dishes, is always gonna come from that root. But, when I experience new perspectives, I incorporate them… I might then extract spices differently: in a dry pan compared to, what I was taught, in an oiled hot pan.

What inspires you to create?

I am impacted a lot by the people I interact with. I remember, for example, I went to Nigeria about three years ago and that was a big culture shock for me. You know, experiencing the culture, how it runs, the food, the spices, the way they buy food. All of it was just such a mind-blowing experience. You get kind of brought back to, this is food, and then you see how they use ingredients differently. I now incorporate a lot of their perspective into my cooking.

Tell us about your experience in cooking competitions?

I like learning a lot. So, food-wise, that’s a big reason why I do cooking competitions. It’s very much a learning experience. Similar to traveling, it’s such a short period of time, so I think you appreciate more of it, right? I mean, you should be appreciating every day – but those days I really pack things in. I’m trying to learn a lot and come back a little bit more knowledgeable about things I like and things I don’t like.

Can you describe your travel style?

I think the experience is about learning and seeing different things. If you just go to a city, it’s kind of the same… I personally would rather go to a farm in the morning and learn how it works, and then go study pottery. A city’s a city – that’s kind of my opinion. It doesn’t matter if it’s Tokyo, New York, or Chicago. So, that’s why I like learning a little on the outside if that makes sense. But the city always has the best food, so I like to eat in the city.

What makes Osaka stand out to you?

Honestly, the street food in Osaka. The street food game in Osaka is on a different level. In Japan, Osaka has two nicknames. It’s called thekuidaore no machi, which means the city where you eat till you collapse, ’cause there’s so much cheap street food. And, Tenka no Daidokoro, which means Japan’s kitchen. People just love food in Osaka. And people are loud about food, they have very opinionated cooks.

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Japan with Shota Nakajima

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