The way that I did the grilled Madai the first two years is different than the way I do it now.” Chef Kato experiments on a daily basis with temperature, timing, technique of cutting, and so on to continuously find better ways to make the same dish more exciting.And for the rest of the hour: The holy grail of genetics. What I strive for every day is to perfect the same thing every day. The only thing I change is the takigori, which is seasonal. It’s black because we took each wooden panel to the burbs and burned it ourselves.”Īs for the food? “The core menu is set. “I designed the whole space and picked out every single piece of material. With everything at Sumi Robata Bar, Chef Kato takes pride in the traditional inspiration and the painstaking personal effort. “What I strive for every day is to perfect the same thing every day.” Hands down, customers are my recognition. “Or when Japanese customers come from out of town and have a traditional experience. It makes me happy when people come in for the first time and have no clue about Japanese food or robata and then are blown away,” he says. “Name recognition is not important to me. The most unique part of it all? Almost everything you eat is cooked by Chef Gene Kato himself. The concept is all about proteins being grilled to perfection, served with authentic and light Japanese sides. You need people to come back every day for the core of the menu.”ĭiners won’t find anything trendy-for-trend’s-sake at Sumi Robata Bar. There’s no reason for someone to come back so often only for specials. That is what should be perfected day in and day out. But there’s something to be said about the core of a restaurant. ![]() “A lot of young chefs are always about creating new dishes. The menu imparts the same sense of restraint. There’s no Asian or anime kitsch the interior opts for clean lines, marble floors, and tan wood with accents of charcoal, water, and lots of natural light. The 70-seat space is not what one expects a Japanese restaurant to look like these days. With that realization, Chef Kato walked away from thriving Japonais in 2011 (the franchise was taken over by Morimoto, and closed in 2015) to build his dream-Sumi Robata Bar.ĪLMOST HIDDEN ON AN UNASSUMING CORNER of Wells and Huron in the River North district of Chicago, Sumi Robata Bar maintains Chef Kato’s outlook of minimalist perfection. I knew I wanted to rebalance my career-to create an opportunity for myself where I could manage, cook, and oversee everything.” “The higher up I got, the less I was cooking. ![]() The last year for sure took a toll on me.”Īs much as Chef Kato wanted to be more involved with the Japonais kitchens, he knew that his presence on the line would take away opportunities for the staff he was trying to train. “I was spending two weeks in Chicago, one week in Las Vegas, one week in New York and then doing it all over again for five years. I couldn’t carry that load, so I had to adapt and learn to trust other competent people to express my passion.”Īs he delegated more of the cooking responsibilities, Chef Kato’s schedule started to become weighed down with managerial duties. But at Japonais, that mentality stopped working. Kato credits Japonais as the place where he “really grew up.” He says, “I’ve always been the type to do it myself. Japonais was the perfect storm,” Kato recalls. Restaurants are very much luck of the draw you need to be in the right place at the right time with the right concept. “Our run with Japonais was unbelievable and crazy.
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