DUBAI: Celebrity favorite Japanese chef Hisato Hamada has not one, not two, but three restaurants opening in Saudi Arabia this month, including the high-end, members-only Wagyumafia — a concept that started out as a pop-up in Tokyo and Hong Kong, created by Hamada and entrepreneur Takafumi Horie.
While the Saudi branches of Wagyumafia and wagyu barbecue joint Yakinikumafia are housed in trendy new Via Riyadh, his wagyu ramen and gyoza bar, Mashi No Mashi, is based in Jeddah, where Hamada is excited to debut the brand new dish, wagyu shawarma.
Here, he talks to Arab News about his cooking style and Wagyumafia’s motto.
Q: When you started out as a professional, what was the most-common mistake you made?
A: I don’t make mistakes. I just enjoy cooking. I'm a self-taught chef, right? When you have a master, the master will say, “This is wrong.” Since I'm the master, I don't (have that) coming down. Everything comes from my own inspiration. I think cooking should be freestyle. So, for my concept, there are no mistakes.
What’s your top tip for amateur chefs cooking at home?
Just enjoy cooking. There’s no textbook. Again, I think cooking must be freestyle. Nowadays, you can learn anything from the internet. Pretty much all the information is available already. You can get started on YouTube or social media. It’s totally different from how people learnt back in the Eighties and Nineties. All of the secrets and special techniques are all there online. So just, you know, be in the kitchen every day. That's probably the best way to become a chef.
What one ingredient can instantly improve any dish?
Salt. A lot of people don’t know how to adjust salt properly. Even experienced chefs struggle with it. But when done right, it can elevate your food.
When you go out to eat, do you find yourself critiquing the food? What’s the most-common mistake that you find in other restaurants?
I try not to go to high-end gastronomy, those sit-down or omakase places. For me, that’s boring. I go out for street food, and street food you don’t judge. You either like it or don’t like it and there’s no point in criticizing.
What’s your go-to dish if you have to cook something quickly at home?
Depends on my mood. In Tokyo, we can get pretty much everything from every country. It’s a very universal, diversified food culture. I make a lot of noodles and rice. I make tortillas by myself. I like making something that you can cherish and enjoy the ingredients. I try not to cook too much. Because as long as you can find the right ingredients, I try to let the ingredients speak for themselves. Cooking at home is probably the best way to understand the value of the ingredients and the quality of the ingredients with your family and friends. I think home is the best kitchen.
What request or behavior by customers most annoys you?
All my guests are very, very nice people. I believe that good food comes from good producers, good farmers, good fishermen, good cooks… and all of that will lead to good guests. So, it's all harmonized. We have a motto: “Come as strangers, leave as family.” Literally, if you’ve had one experience with one of my restaurants, you’ve become family, because I started my cooking journey at home with house parties and there you don't have nasty people. If you're not good people, you’re not invited to my house. That's my whole mentality with Wagyumafia. I only want to see happy people. You’ll never break up my restaurant. We’re very music driven and very noisy. No business meetings. We’re too busy to be bad people.
As a head chef, what are you like?
I think the thing that differentiate me from other chefs is that I create everything — I do the interior design, I create graphics for the menus, I create the recipes. So, basically, anything creative, when it comes to the restaurants, I do. So it's not like I’m in the kitchen 24/7. I try to spend 10-12 days a month in the kitchen. The rest of the time, I travel, I experiment with recipes. When I’m in the restaurants, I like to go to the kitchen, check the conditions and also meet my guests. I think being yourself is very important.
