Chef Masayoshi Baba Is Sushi Master at His Intimate 24-seat Namesake Restaurant
Eat it raw first of all, then grill it, and boil it as a last resort. — Japanese proverb
Before each workday begins, chef Masayoshi Baba takes reverent pause at the kamidana perched above the open kitchen of his eponymous restaurant. He changes the water, sake, rice, salt, and evergreen branches offered at the small Shinto shrine, setting his daily intentions by giving thanks and praying for a happy and productive day ahead. This meditative stillness carries over to the way Baba prepares nigirizushi, one omakase course at a time. He meticulously slices each piece of fish and scores the top. He scoops exactly the right amount of shari (seasoned sushi rice) out of the large wooden hangiri with his fingers and shapes it with a few swift, efficient movements. A light brushing of housemade soy sauce is the final flourish before he serves each piece to diners seated at the sushi counter. Itadakimasu—we humbly receive.
Falling in love with hamachi (yellowtail) sashimi was one of Baba’s earliest boyhood food memories growing up in Fukuoka, Japan. His relationship with eating differed from most children’s; as a competitive judo practitioner from age six to 18, he had to pack away huge portions each day, but his natural affinity for food and cooking soon superseded the former as fuel. As a teenager, he pored through books on food and was glued to television cooking shows. He was especially hooked on the original Japanese Iron Chef series; Masaharu Morimoto was his hands-down favourite, and he was particularly fascinated that Morimoto had carved out a much-feted career as a Japanese chef in the United States.
Baba’s burgeoning love for food eventually translated into culinary aspirations of his own. Despite having zero restaurant experience, he moved to Shūnan and cut his teeth with part-time shifts at an izakaya. His gut instinct told him that something about the industry really excited him, and his boss encouraged him to pursue culinary training more seriously. Over the next seven years, the young novice continued his apprenticeship and expanded his skill set at different types of restaurants in Yamaguchi and Fukuoka prefectures, even learning the highly prized art of preparing poisonous fugu as an expensive delicacy.
Simultaneously plain yet sophisticated, washoku—traditional Japanese cuisine—pays homage to the natural flavours of seasonal ingredients by spotlighting their nuances while harmoniously balancing them in a dish. “Japanese cuisine is very simple, very delicate,” Baba explains through an interpreter. “Young cooks must perform the same techniques over and over to ensure consistency. Very simple things are the toughest things to learn. Repetition is the most difficult part of learning.”
At 25, Baba was eager for a new challenge and a change of pace. When he was a kid, his father’s work moved the family to Los Angeles, Singapore, and back again to Japan, he says. “Back then, I didn’t know what Vancouver or Canada was like, [but] I knew I wanted to live somewhere with a more relaxing, laidback lifestyle.” A happenstance conversation with a former Torontonian piqued his interest in moving to Canada, and on New Year’s Day 2006, he took a momentous step toward seeking his culinary fortune. Kamloops was his first stop, where he worked a four-month stint at Sanbiki before moving to Vancouver. He wanted to immerse himself in studying the craft of Japanese cuisine and applied to work in chef Hidekazu Tojo’s kitchen.
Baba spent a decade under Tojo’s mentorship. From Tojo-san’s deep understanding of Vancouver’s local bounty, he learned to appreciate ingredients of place and how to create a unique confluence of flavour by seamlessly marrying them with Japanese ingredients and cooking techniques. “[Tojo] always believed in originality but never compromised the purity of his dishes … no MSG, no dyes, and no farmed fish,” Baba reflects. Over the years, his relationship with Tojo-san evolved from protege and shokunin into close friendship, and the biggest lessons he learned extended beyond the kitchen. “Most of all, the way he loves Canada, how he enjoys his daily life, and how he values quality of life taught me a lot.”