My Date with Iron Chef Morimoto (Aka a party I attended which he also attended)

By Nicci Jordan Hubert

Chef Morimoto

There’s no place quite like the multi-purposed Tribeca Cinemas to have a party, especially when Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto is in the house.

Tribeca Cinema

I had the pleasure to join the lovely people at Kikkoman for a celebratory event, which featured a showing of their new Make Haste Slowly documentary—directed by the Academy Award Nominated Lucy Walker—and a menu by Iron Chef Morimoto which showcased Kikkoman sauces. I had never tasted Chef Morimoto’s food before, and was curious it if would live up to the hype. For any of you who have been to his restaurants, you know: it’s not hype, it’s fact.

Soba noodles' humble beginnings

The flavors were nearly breathtaking–with almost every bite, I involuntarily closed my eyes. From the huge bowl of lotus root chips paired with a dazzling, perfectly balanced wasabi mayonnaise, to the crunchy and comforting yellowtail tacos with Kikkoman rice vinegar, the menu was unforgettable.

Even better was the demonstration that Chef Morimoto and his team put on, featuring the butchering of a whole. luscious tuna and the hand-made creation of soba noodles. As Chris Treager would say, it was literally one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. The precision and speed those chefs put into the preparation of even the food’s ingredients was inspiring to me. Not just culinarily inspiring, but also in life: hard work and elbow grease and detailed precision yield the best results.

Menu

A traditional sake cup

You would be stunned at how quickly he created that tuna rose

Perhaps intentionally, perhaps not, the amazing effect of the night was that the pairing of the chefs’ detailed and hard work with the Kikkoman documentary, Make Haste Slowly, was wholly unified. The film, which was charming and surprisingly engrossing, celebrated the centuries-old Kikkoman brand, its humble beginnings, and its devotion to Kikkoman’s 16-article creed, which includes notes like “Preserve discipline and maintain tradition” and “true earning comes from the labor of sweat.” The documentary was obviously a corporate branding strategy, but I certainly drank the Kikkoman kool-aid (I also drank the sake served at the viewing, of course) and vowed then and there to only buy Kikkoman soy sauce.

Tricked out bartenders

In the end, it was a gorgeous portrait of the people who make up the massive corporation. Once again, even their branding strategy exemplified their creed. This time it was article number 6, “Business depends upon people.”

What Kikkoman did at Tribeca Cinemas was altogether according to their creed: they worked hard and they chose the right people. And the result was indeed prosperous.



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