meet the chef: CHEF HISASHI IWATA- Executive Chef

What’s tastier - Japanese rice or Thai rice?
Thai rice. But both are delicious.
How do you keep in touch with latest food trends?
Just hang out in town, and watching Youtube footage.
Have you ever created an entirely new dish?
Yes, that’s my job.
Greatest achievement to date?
Working in different countries, I have had many great experience and met many friends.
Famous people you’ve cooked for.
Beyonce, Jay Z, Leonard Dicaprio, Jimmy Page in New York City. Also HRH Princess Sirindhorn in Thailand.
Utensils you can’t do without?
Knives.
Music you listen to while cooking?
None.
Best advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t work too hard, enjoy cooking.
What’s your favorite dish to cook for yourself?
Japanese home cooked dish using my mother’s recipe.
If you weren’t a chef, what would you be?
Photographer.
What’s next for you?
IDK, just keep going.

​Why cooking as a career?
I started work in a restaurant when I was 19 years old, but never expected it to become my career. Now, of course, I love cooking.
Two biggest influences on your career?
My first chef — and Anthony Bourdain.
Best early kitchen experience?
In my first restaurant at Kobe, Japan. I learned so much there.
Worst kitchen experience?
There are a few, but I believe any situation — good or bad — helps to make me grow as a chef.
Best meal you’ve ever had?
Authentic Jamaican cuisine at Port Antonio. It’s a small restaurant on the beach, where the chef waits for the fisherman’s daily catch, direct from the sea. The food was amazingly yummy.
What’s your cooking philosophy?
Cook with fresh products and a sense of season. And also a sense of gratitude for the food.
What’s your signature dish?
A combination of Japanese and international ingredients.
Favorite cookbook?
Classic Japanese cooking book about Kaiseki cuisine.
Most difficult ingredient to cook with?
Wild game meat, extra-large fish.

CHEF HISASHI IWATA
Executive Chef, Koi Restaurant Bangkok
Chef Hisashi Iwata is world-class sushi chef who is a celebrated veteran of Japanese Fusion cuisine. A longstanding member of the KOI family, he spent time at Koi Los Angeles and Koi New York as the Executive Sushi Chef of both establishments before joining Koi Bangkok as the Executive in 2010.
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Koi Restaurant Bangkok 39 fl, Sathorn Square Building, 98 North Sathorn Rd., Silom, Bangrak, 10500 Bangkok, Thailand.
Opening Hours : Lunch 11.30am - 2.30pm (Mon-Sat),Dinner 6pm - 11.30pm (Mon-Sun).
Tel:  02 036 8899, 080 3535 197. Email: hostess@koirestaurantbkk.com