Chef Niki Nakayama wraps her fingers around a giant live scallop and gently prises open the shell. She takes a knife and trims out the sand-coloured flesh inside. Later, she’ll pair it with kiwi, dill and a beet-and-sorrel sauce with a ponzu base.
It's such unexpected combinations that have made Nakayama a standout in the culinary world. And later this month, she'll stand out for yet another reason. She's one of just six chefs to be profiled on Netflix's first original documentary series, Chef's Table, which features some of the most innovative chefs cooking today.
The show takes viewers inside Nakayama’s Los Angeles restaurant, n/naka, where she prefers to work out of view. That’s symptomatic of many years working in the world of sushi, where being a female chef brought unwanted attention. As one of only a handful of female Japanese chefs, she was seen as an oddity, even slighted by male patrons, including one who dismissed her work as “cute”.
These days, the 40-year-old Los Angeles-born chef crafts intricate, 13-course kaiseki meals, a Japanese tradition dating back to the 13th century that presents a succession of raw, heavy and light dishes, grilled, steamed and fried offerings, with an emphasis on local ingredients.
Nakayama talks about kaiseki, the role Los Angeles plays in her cuisine, and stepping in front of the camera.
What was it like growing up as the daughter of Japanese immigrants who worked in the Los Angeles seafood industry?
I started working with them at the age of 12 and my feeling was: “I really don’t like selling seafood.” It smelled funny and it was so cold inside and there were all these big fish all over. It was more scary than appealing. But one of the great things, having grown up in a family that did seafood, is we had the opportunity to try so many kinds of seafood.
How did kaiseki begin?
Kaiseki originated from the Buddhist monasteries. It was about creating food around the tea ceremony. Over time, it evolved into two different kinds of kaiseki. Even the writing of it is different in Japanese. The vegan style is still done today, but there’s a different version. It’s representative of a formal banquet where people sit and gather and there’s a lot of luxury, a lot of food that is very grand. You would say that’s the complete opposite of the original kaiseki. But the one thing they maintained in both philosophies is appreciation of nature, of seasons. There’s this underlying belief that we should protect the ingredient, preserve its natural flavours as much as possible.
What are you trying to express with any given plate?
We try to showcase the colours of the seasons. For summer, there’s a lot of green. For autumn, a lot more red and gold and brown. Winter is a lot of darker colours. And springtime is bright, bright green. There’s a new beginning. When you experience kaiseki, you’re very attuned with what’s happening all around you. That’s a big thing about kaiseki. When you eat that meal, you automatically know: “This is spring. This is summer. Autumn. Winter.”
Is your take on kaiseki influenced by your upbringing?
Yes, definitely. I think when it’s a menu that’s created, it’s very representative of personal tastes and experience. When we go to eat at a traditional Japanese restaurant, of course, we don’t expect to eat pasta, but that is one of our more popular dishes here. It’s just because I personally love pasta and I think it’s wonderful to have the ability to put it on the menu. It’s definitely reflective of the things that I eat and I feel is really a good representation of having this Asian and American culture at the same time.
Do you think it has become easier to be a female sushi chef?
That’s a difficult question. I feel I’ve been very fortunate in people’s opinion and people’s acceptance of n/naka. I feel like I’ve received a lot of positive feedback from people and it’s not so much an issue any more that I’m a female chef doing this Japanese cuisine that’s traditionally male. I feel that people are supportive of it and I’ve been very fortunate at this space. In terms of sushi, if I were to stand behind a sushi bar at this point, I don’t really know what people would think.
You’ve been known to keep a low profile. What was it like being in front of the camera?
That was actually not as nerve-racking as I thought it would be. The director did an amazing job making all of us feel comfortable. And it seemed like such a wonderful opportunity to get what it is we’re doing out there for people to understand better. I feel a little bit disappointed when people come here and they automatically assume they’re at a sushi restaurant. Because what we are is not a sushi restaurant. It would be amazing for people to understand that with Japanese food, there’s so much more than sushi.
* AP
