It’s been a delicious year for fans who have visited Masaharu Morimoto’s eponymous restaurant, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. The Iron Chef’s first venture into the Las Vegas food scene, featuring his modern spin on traditional Japanese dishes, has been a successful one. “This has been a dream for me,” says Morimoto about opening his restaurant in Las Vegas. “A lot has changed here in 10 years; there are more famous chefs, a lot more foodie people come here. This is a dream town to open a restaurant.” Morimoto operates more than a dozen restaurants around the world, from Maui and Mexico City to New York City, Philadelphia and New Delhi, India. When asked if he has plans to open any other Morimoto-branded venues in town, the chef smiles slyly, only saying, “It’s confidential, a secret, a surprise.” Although he wouldn’t reveal anything further, he did answer some completely random questions for us.
You’re only allowed to bring three items with you to a deserted island—what would they be?
Soy sauce, rice and strawberry shortcake.
One dish you could eat every day, for a year?
Miso soup.
Your favorite meal to cook: breakfast, lunch or dinner?
Dinner.
Favorite American dish?
Steak.
What’s your favorite fish to use in your dishes?
Tuna.
What ingredient can you not cook without?
Soy sauce.
What cooking tool can you not live without?
Knife.
What’s your favorite fast-food place?
Subway.
What is your comfort food or dish?
Ochazuke—it’s rice and tea and sometimes I put grilled fish in it.
If you weren’t a chef, or a baseball player (earlier in his life, Morimoto suffered a shoulder injury that ended a promising career as a pro baseball player), what would you be doing?
Lawyer. Because I spend a lot of legal fees now (laughs), so instead I could do it.
