INTERVIEW WITH Katsuji Tanabe, Owner/Chef, Mexikosher www.mexikosher.com Q: Tell us about your ethnic background being Japanese-Mexican. Katsuji Tanabe: I was born and raised in Mexico City. Growing up, my house was a mix of flavors. My mom wasn’t really a good cook, but we had a maid who was an amazing cook, and my dad, who is Japanese, always liked cooking. My family was full of foodies—even though they were not great cooks. We were always into very exotic and interesting types of food. Q: When you first thought of the idea for Mexikosher, were you nervous that it wouldn’t work out? KT: Before Mexikosher, I ran two kosher restaurants, a fine dining French restaurant and another one that carried fish and dairy. The last two years there, I started testing the (Mexican) recipes at my job. At one point, my boss was like, “Stop with the Mexican food!” but the Mexican items were the best selling items even though it was a French restaurant. So I knew there was a niche for Mexican food that was kosher, and at the time there was no restaurant like that in LA.
“I consider myself a good chef that owns a fast casual place.” –CHEF KATSUJI TANABE INTERVIEWED BY: CHRISTINE LYNN WILLIAMSON
All Aboard! Stop in at Grand Central and try out some of these tasty eateries.
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| FEBRUARY 2015
BELCAMPO MEAT COMPANY www.belcampomeatco.com x “What unites everything we do is our singular commitment to provide you with delicious, organic, and humane meat you can feel good about buying and eating.”
THE OYSTER GOURMET www.theoystergourmet.com x If you want to have the best oysters in Los Angeles, made by the best in the game, then you need to head down to the Oyster Gourmet. Chef Christophe Happillon is actually a diplomed Master Ecailler, which is a the term for a professional seafood specialist, and we can’t think of a better person to have prepared this delicacy for you.