Chef Hidekazu Tojo
The myth, the man, the singular Tojo-san.
Think back to the first time you tried sushi. If it was in North America, chances are a California roll was among your initial bites of this delicacy—it’s the gateway sushi for many. California rolls are “inside out”, with an outer layer of rice surrounding nori and a filling of crabmeat, cucumber, and avocado. They’re ubiquitous now, but chef/restaurateur Hidekazu Tojo was the first to serve the revolutionary style of roll in his newly adopted home of Vancouver nearly 50 years ago. The much-lauded chef’s career is storied, transporting a shy country boy from humble beginnings to the upper echelons of culinary accomplishment.
Unlike his current gastronomic flights of fancy, food was a modest endeavour during Tojo’s childhood in postwar Kagoshima, Japan. “Both my parents, especially my mother, didn’t eat meat,” he explains. “Meals at home were very simple—mostly tofu, rice, soup, and a little bit of fish—and I was so hungry for any chance to experience other kinds of food.” He would eagerly anticipate accompanying his father on annual business trips to Osaka, where he had the chance to indulge his adventurous palate. Tojo’s first high-end dining experience was a department store food floor, where his eyes widened with delight at the impeccably dressed servers attending to lavish food displays. “I still remember exactly how my first bite of panko-crusted ebi tasted.”
Time spent with his older sister also piqued his culinary curiosity. During visits home, she cooked city-style food that he’d never tasted, and he laughs while recounting his first attempt at eating with a fork and knife as a teenager while having dinner with her in Fukuoka. “I was so nervous that I couldn’t eat! There were hakujin (Caucasian people) sitting at the next table, and it made me even more self-conscious because I didn’t know what I was doing. I was barely able to eat one bite before I took the rest of my meal home in a doggy bag.”