SN8 | Ep370 - Chef Shota Nakajima | Top Chef - Portland

Chef Shota Nakajima is our special guestTop Chef Season 18 - PortlandFollow Chef Shota Nakajima on Instagram @chefshotaTop Chef - Tune in Thursdays at 8/7 central! bravotv.com/top-chefOn Instagram @bravotopchefFrom a story by Tom Sietsema of The Washington Post - The Search for America’s Best Food Cities: Portland, OregonImagine a city where no one honks their horn and drivers pause mid-block to assure pedestrians safe passage from one sidewalk to another.Picture an urban landscape painted in rivers, forests and mountains — Frontierland as if created by Alice Waters.Envision a part of the world where waiters write “Albion” before “strawberries” on a chalkboard menu to flag a local treat, taxi drivers tag the restaurant you’re going to when you simply say the address (“Pok Pok!”), breakfast and brunch are practically civic duties, an entire bookstore is devoted to matters of home and garden, and some of the Thai cooking rivals Chiang Mai’s raciest.Welcome to Portland, as in Oregon, the land of milk and honey — also coffee, tea, beer, wine, game, berries, crab, salmon, ice cream in flavors lifted from food trucks and olive oil that chefs compare favorably to Italy’s liquid gold.Dubbed Stumptown, a nickname acquired in the mid-19th century when logging outpaced the full clearing of trees, Portland is one of America’s best food cities.It is also the home base for Season 18 of Top Chef. It is were we find our very special guest, Shota Nakajima. He is the Chef & Owner of Chef/Owner, Taku. Born in Japan and raised in Seattle, Shota Nakajima began his culinary journey at age 16 working for a highly acclaimed sushi restaurant. At age 18 he moved to Osaka, Japan to learn the art of Japanese cuisine from Michelin Star rated Chef Ya-sa-hiko Sakamoto, an experience that greatly changed Shota’s perspective on hospitality, cooking and his approach to food. Developing his own meticulous and imaginative culinary detail, and a stringent demand for high-quality, Shota set out to expand Japanese cuisine in the United States by bringing a fresh perspective on approachable Japanese comfort food through his two restaurants, Taku and Adana. A James Beard Award semi-finalist for three years running, Shota seizes every opportunity to get outside and forage or fish, taking advantage of the abundance of wild goods in Washington’s mountains and waters.Top Chef is broadcast on Bravo TV on Thursdays at 8/7 CentralThere's a new batch of 15 extremely talented Executive Chefs and restaurant owners on Top Chef this season, representing a cross section of kitchens and food from around the country!Catch the action as these talented chefs vie for the coveted title of Top Chef - bringing their unique skillsets, diversity of cuisines and gamut of flavors to the Top Chef Kitchen in Portland! With Portland as a picturesque backdrop and culinary inspiration, the chefs compete in a variety of challenges including celebrating PDX’s Pan-African cuisine to feeding hundreds of frontline workers - - - AND crabbing on the Oregon Coast in a tribute to culinary icon and Oregonian James Beard!Tune in Thursdays at 8/7 central! bravotv.com/top-chefOn Instagram @bravotopchefChef Shota Nakajima is our special guest from Top Chef Season 18 - PortlandFollow Chef Shota Nakajima on Instagram at @chefshota