Like many other restaurateurs, Nakajima got hit hard by the pandemic, and had to close Adana, one of his two restaurants (via Seattle Met). Participating chefs all ballers are grouped by geographic region in an East vs. West showdown. Nakajima has watched mentors make public appearances and had his own TV experiences, including Iron Chef Gauntlet in 2017. At the age of 18, he trained at Sushi Den Ginza. Nakajima was a finalist in the 18th season of Top Chef, which wrapped up in July of last year. That season filmed in Portland, Ore., was a ratings smash thanks to large audiences stuck at home, looking for every manner of distraction. Clearly shows like Top Chef offer a career kickstart, but this time around the stakes feel pretty high. Who is Top Chef contestant Shota Nakajima? When you look at the lineup, youll see nobody should be going home in the first round, but 16 people will be out, he said. Top Chef, shown here with seasoned superstar Padma Lakshmi. Curry Powder or Chinese Five Spice? Also, his dating life remained lowkey as compared to the other aspect of his life. Banzai Teriyaki is a partnership with Eric Bolstad, a mortgage broker who splits his time between Cle Elum and Bellevue. All four chefsShota Nakajima ( Taku, Seattle), Jamie Tran . Top Chef is back in the kitchen! Peter Constantinides is married to Melina Kanakaredes {Compare Couple}. 5. Thanking the Bravo Network for an entirely new cuisine and cooking style experience, he also worded: I vividly remember this elimination challenge I remember looking around and seeing and soaking in what all my other colleagues were doing. 3. The Seattle representative owns a restaurant called Taku, a Japanese fried chicken joint slinging takeout in Capitol Hill. Shota Nakajima HOMETOWN: Tokyo, Japan & Seattle, WA CURRENT CITY OF RESIDENCE: Seattle, WA OCCUPATION/PROFESSION: Chef/Owner, Taku Born in Japan and raised in Seattle, Shota Nakajima began. It was super American brunch style. Seattle native Chef Shota Nakajima (age 28) started in the restaurant business at the age of 16, working in and around Seattle at various Sushi restaurants. He opened Taku, a popular Capitol Hill restaurant focused on karaage, in March 2020, and closed his Japanese restaurant Adana in May of that year. Shota Nakajima needed Top Chef.The Seattle native had a . View Culinary Connections for more. Top Chef is getting well underway, with the help of contestants including Shota Nakajima. Chefs bringing the heat from the West Coast: Meanwhile, back in the restaurant world, Nakajima spends much of his time these days meeting with his seasoned crews at Taku and Kobo, working on research and development. Originally written for Visit Seattle's 2021-22 Winter/Spring Visitors' Guide. Shota Nakajima with fellow Top Chef contestant Sara from May 7, 2021-episode of the show (PIC: Saras IG). The struggles continued for Nakajima when he was T-boned in a car accident in May 2020, where his car was totaled. A post shared by Bravo Top Chef (@bravotopchef) Get to know Shota Nakajima! (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images), Seattle's Top Chef Star Shota Nakajima Is Betting His Fried Chicken Will Fly High, Seattle-based chef Shota Nakajima second from. The Top Chef contestant has now opened two restaurants in total. His social media also did not answer any of the relationships related queries. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was forced to close his both restaurants Adam and taku. A year later, in 2015, he started his own restaurant, Naka Kaiseki and bar, where he served 3-course tasting menus of Japanese comfort food and a la carte, Japanese street food. Headlines, lately reported, the three-time James Beard Award semi-finalist, Chef Shota will be reopening his casual Capitol Hill restaurant, Taku, on May 5, 2021, after it was closed last year during the COVID pandemic. I want people to walk in and be like, Whoa I feel like Im in Japan. The restaurant, with 38 indoor seats and rooftop bar that fits 90, is in Cle Elum, almost 100 miles east of Seattle by car. On the day, Shota was just as much excitement. From there, his journey brought him to Ginza and Shinjuku, where he worked his way up through the ranks. His social media also did not answer any of the 'relationships' related queries. Hes cooked on Good Morning America, returned to Top Chef as a guest judge and is featured on Food Networks Hot List for 2023. Pickle juice and milk. Your chef hero? Curry Powder or Chinese Five Spice? There, he continued to hone his skills at Sushi Den in Midtown, before being the exclusive featured chef at Jado Sushi in Harlem. The bottled sauce is a twist on the teriyaki sauce he loved as a child in Seattle, with jolts of umami from ingredients like nutritional yeast and hints of toastiness from sesame paste. Ive been living like a monk, trying to be a good example for the next generation, he said. Shota opened Adana in 2017, a restaurant that serves Japanese homestyle or comfort food Japanese, as reported by eater.com. 2023 GRV Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. While Nakajima plans to go head-to-head with some of the next great culinary talents across America, he's no stranger to television. He maintains his low profile and doesnt want to destroy his reputed career. Following his car accident he was then diagnosed with shingles. Nakajima says one will be of the streets of Japan, and another will be a collage of anime characters like Pikachu. While many others might have been knocked down by such a loss, Nakajima took the news with stride, declaring that he felt a sense of relief. His father Satoshi Nakajima is his No. 171k Followers, 3,406 Following, 669 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Shota Nakajima (@chefshota) 170k Followers, 3,366 Following, 667 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Shota Nakajima (@chefshota) chefshota. Chef Shota Nakajima was a contestant competing for the $250,000 grand prize on this season of Top Chef. (During the pandemic, Adana offered the fellow industry workers 30%.). His annual salary and weekly waring info are missing as per the source. Born in Japan, and raised predominantly in the U.S, Nakajima moved to Osaka at age 18 to apprentice with chef Yasuhiko Sakamoto and the decor at Taku reflects that time in his life,. Merin. Meanwhile, the IMBD also credited him for 2018s TV series Beat Bobby Flay and 2015s GQ TV series Wheres the Bar. While Nakajima did not walk away with the win, he impressed judges with a 4-course meal that included, sashimi 3-ways, octopus karaage with water spinach and burdock root, and beef tongue curry. Also, his dating life remained lowkey as compared to the other aspect of his life. Nakajima was born in Japan, and raised in Seattle, Washington. Ever since Top Chef: Portland, Shota seemed to have drawn closer to his fellow contestant Sara Hauman. SEATTLE There's no place Seattle Chef Shota Nakajima would rather be than working the line at his restaurant, Taku.But 2020 had other ideas. His love of bonito flakes as an ingredient and propensity towards Chinese cooking might just land him in some interesting positions in the next season of Top Chef that you don't want to miss. Nakajima was born and raised in the Kanda neighborhood of Tokyo, Japan, as a true Edokko a child who comes from a family lineage spanning back at least three generations in Edo (Tokyo). 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Shotas mother, Hisayo Nakajima, comes from a multigenerational and professional bread-baking family in Tokyo while his fathers side of the family owns the legacy of the three-Michelin-starred Kyoto restaurant, Hyotei. Sake. So, he does not have a wife. Moreover, he discovered his own bottle of teriyaki sauce named Make Umami. Shota also has a beloved brother who has been married to Whitney. Top Chef Season 18 has the most lovable cast in the shows history. Nakajima was one of three finalists on this season of Top Chef. And thats kind of my biggest thing. Chef Nakajima: Net worth, Salary Nakajima's net worth is approximately $ 1 million dollar s, and his main source of earnings is Karage Restaurant and taku. On April 16, 2021 (seemingly after the completion of the shooting), Shota cited Top Chef as one of the most fun and also the most difficult thing he has ever done in his career. Cedar Smoked Black Cod. Due to his luck, he reopened Taku in May 2011 and named Karaage restaurant. I had been asked multiple times and I was always too busy running restaurants, he said in a recent phone interview. Bolstad was originally planning on opening the restaurant on his own and tapped Nakajima for consulting help after seeing him beat star chef Bobby Flay on a 2018 episode of the Food Networks Beat Bobby Flay. For Nakajima, teriyaki is a sentimental food. Aside from sharing his immaculate dishes, he sometimes shares pictures of his dog Dodger, as well as updates on his latest restaurant Taku. OLD BAY. newsletter, With balanced saisons, hoppy IPAs, dark stouts, and more, 14 Places for Amazing Breakfast in Seattle, Old-school diner food, perfectly executed pastries, and more, 16 Amazing Restaurants in Seattles Chinatown-International District, Steaming bowls of pho, juicy xiao long bao, and other outstanding bites in the C-ID, 17 Restaurants That Make Ballard One of Seattles Best Dining Neighborhoods, Ballard has everything from dive bar chili to high-end tasting menus, Sign up for the The contestant also made it to the James Beard semi-finals from 2018 to 2020. As a result, fans could not decide who they wished for to win the competition. There is one word that comes into mind to describe Kunihide Nakaji Nakajima: Edomae. . I n its 18th season, Top Chef suddenly became one of the most talked-about shows on TV. Check out never-before-seen content, exclusive sweepstakes, and much more! Also, word has it, following a win on episode six of the Top Chef, Shota reportedly had a sold-out crowd at his restaurant where he wishes to introduce customers to his favorite food from childhood. Seattles version of the charbroiled chicken dish with sweet soy sauce is Japanese in name only; the teriyaki diners eat in Japan is much less sweet and saucy, and the standard for Seattle teriyaki was shaped by Korean restaurant owners like John Chung after Kasahara started the genre. Chef Nakajima is not having an affair with anyone presently. If I didnt grow up with his kids, I wouldnt be as sentimental about teriyaki chicken.. Im obsessed with that pork belly, Nakajima said, adding that he created a special rub to bring some heat to the party. Lets get to know him on Instagram. Taku's new menu will offer marinated, buttered and twice-fried karaage nuggets and wings . Shota Nakajima is opening his take on a teriyaki restaurant inspired by flavors he grew up eating in Seattle and Japan at the end of March. [6][7] In 2020, Nakajima competed on Top Chef: Portland, where was one of three finalists. It's all niceties when Food Network's Damaris Phillips and Amanda Freitag team up to take down their good friend Bobby Flay. Shota is 31 years old and was born 1989 in Tokyo, Japan. The hits keep coming for the Seattle-based chef, whos up next on Food Networks Tournament of Champions starting Feb. 19. #Topchef 23,730 views 1 year ago Learn how to make Japanese curry from scratch with Shota Nakajima This is a chicken version from the finale menu from. Theres also some envelope-pushing in the kitchen, experiments that sometimes end up on the menu. His debut was Food Networks Iron Chef Gauntlet, where he was the fourth chef eliminated. Sansho Pepper. Favourite dish youve created for Mothers Day Brunch to date? 4 min read. This way, Shota who also worked several other jobs as Culinary Director and Senior Consultant Chef, pulled in an estimated $1 million net worth (before May 2021). Shota took a Cooking major in Japanese Cuisine at the Tsuji Culinary Arts School for a year in 2006 2007. Peter Constantinides is not having an affair with anyone presently. At the time of this writing, his parents were living in Bellevue, across Lake Washington from Seattle, in the United States. One ingredient you couldn't live without? Chef Shota has the makings of a Top Chef Instagram At age 18 he moved to Osaka, Japan to learn the art of Japanese cuisine from Michelin Star rated Chef Yasuhiko Sakamoto, an experience that greatly changed Shotas perspective on hospitality, cooking and his approach to food. That significant screen time led to all sorts of intriguing opportunities. Chef Nakajima is an attractive man and has gained a lot of public attention due to his body feature. 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