“Cooking is an art, but all art requires knowing something about the techniques and materials.” The phrase is attributed to Nathan Myhrvold, the American author of the six-volume series Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. Vancouver chef Hidekazu Tojo would certainly agree. The breadth of his knowledge, not only in terms of technique but in recognizing what appeals to Western tastes and what doesn’t have made Hidekazu – “people find it hard to pronounce my name, so I tell them to just say Tojo” – Vancouver’s go-to guy for high-end Japanese dining.
He’s the man who introduced the world to the California roll, a Vancouver concoction originally called the inside-out roll because Chef Tojo wrapped the crab meat, avocado and cucumber in rice rather than in a sheet of seaweed, a reversal of the norm.
“Seaweed? Western people say yuck. I understand that,” he says. “Traditionally, seaweed must be on the outside. People who have been to Japan know that seaweed is very healthy for you, but most people haven’t been to Japan.”
So, realizing his customers had an aversion to algae, he switched things around.
“The seaweed is hiding,” he says with a wink. “My lawyer told me, Tojo, you must patent it, but I said it costs too much and if I patent it, it will become too expensive and it won’t become popular.” It did become popular and the California roll wrapped in rice rather than seaweed is now a staple. It’s copied the world over and Chef Tojo doesn’t get a cent.
As for the name, Tojo says it was the Japanese media, not him, who came up with calling it the California roll because “at that time (the mid-1970s) people [in Japan] thought Canada and America were the same. North America meant California, you know Los Angeles. Everything in North America was called California. They didn’t know Vancouver.”
Now in his late sixties, Tojo is still innovating, substituting quinoa for sushi rice. Voilà, the quinoa roll.
“I’m making new creations all the time. I never stop. We have a lot of repeat customers, once a week, some come twice a week. They’re looking for a new dish. Customers demand a Tojo creation, and I’m very excited to provide that. Both sides win.”
One of eight children, Hidekazu Tojo was born in rural Japan in the prefecture of Kagoshima. Kagoshima sits on the southwest tip of the island of Kyushi at the bottom of Japan. He has three brothers and four sisters. His father worked as a logger felling trees for a forestry company, a position that traditionally goes to the eldest male, but as No. 4 son, Tojo had to leave home and make his own way in the world.
“My high school teacher asked me what I would like to do, and I said I’m very interested in cooking. I wanted to see outside Japan and there were only three ways to get out of Japan. The first way was in the service of the government. The second was in business. You have to be very smart. I didn’t go to university. No university, no chance. Or one last chance,” he pauses to reflect, “cook.”
His teacher recommended him to the Ohnoya ryotei in Osaka. Tojo describes a ryotei as a meeting place for fine dining, a cross between a luxurious high-end restaurant and a refuge after a busy day at the office.
“Most people relax in a private room and take off their shoes,” he says. At 18, he was interviewed and won a trainee position. It’s here that he learned to cook traditional Japanese fare.
“We learned sushi, tempura, yakatori, noodles. Many, many things. Everything was covered.”
Although Western dishes were still a novelty, at the time, the ryotei also touched upon Western meat preferences, which was fortuitous because young Tojo had itchy feet, anxious to see the world.
“I was looking for opportunity.” And opportunity knocked when a ryotei acquaintance introduced him to the owner of Maneki, a Japanese restaurant in Vancouver.
“He was looking for young employees. I said I was looking for something outside Japan. He said Canada. Hmm. Canada. Vancouver. I had never heard of it. Then I did a little research. Vancouver was beautiful. It was very, very interesting.”
They negotiated by mail for over a year and finally, in 1971, Tojo arrived in Vancouver at 21 years of age to work at Maneki on East Hastings. At the end of his two-year contract, he returned to Osaka to visit his family.
“I’m back in Osaka and I say, no, I don’t want to stay. There’s too many people and I don’t like Japanese politics. Then I’m back in Vancouver and I decide to stay.”
But in committing to Canada, he realized he had to reach out and expand his repertoire. “I decided I must be more open for Western customers.”
It’s here at his second posting, Jinya, that he introduced the California roll, winning over Vancouver diners still a bit unsure about Japanese food. “I was making everything original. Also, I knew Western tastes,” says Tojo. And he had help from influential friends. “James Barber followed me from Maneki. He explained and slowly, slowly, [Japanese cuisine] caught on.”
When the owner of Jinya retired, chef Tojo was presented with an opportunity. He could move on to yet another establishment or he could open his own restaurant.
“I’m a chef, not a businessman. That’s my focus,” he says, remembering those heady days in 1988 when he was encouraged to strike out on his own.
“My customers came to me and said, Tojo, maybe you should do it. So, my accountant, my lawyer, my banker, everybody helped me. It was the right time,” he says.
Today, his restaurant Tojo’s (it’s the second incarnation) sits on an unremarkable part of Broadway, sandwiched between a liquor store and a pharmacy, but once through the doors, the magic takes over. The interior is warm and inviting. Traditional paper screens separate the restaurant from a private enclave at the back and it’s here that I meet Tojo, excited to find out more about him and his calling.
He tells me he’s married with two adult children. His son lives and works in Tokyo. His married daughter lives in Vancouver. He has a three-year-old grandchild.
“They love good food, but they’re not interested in the business,” he confesses.
He starts his day at 6:00 AM, watches the morning news and checks his reservation book for familiar customers. At approximately nine o’clock, he walks for about 45 minutes and then swims at the community pool, arriving at the Broadway location at around 1:00 PM. His staff is already preparing dinner. His favourite activity is planning the menu, especially preparing unique dishes for his regular customers.
“After the customer has the final dish, I leave. That can be anywhere from 8:30 PM to 10:00 or later.”
He enjoys sourcing all his ingredients. He imports fish from Japan for that wow factor but also shops locally. “My philosophy is to use a lot of local ingredients. It helps the local economy.”
Tojo says it’s important to keep up with culinary trends. He reads a lot and watches the Food Network. At the moment, yuzu juice from the yuzu plant is trendy. Originating in the mountains of China, it’s a hardy fruit that will grow anywhere if the soil is well-drained. It ripens to an orange colour about the size of grapefruit; yuzu juice is used to enhance soy sauces, miso toppings and ponzu sauces.
“We even have yuzu-flavoured beer,” says the chef. “We use it over fish. Anything.”
Tojo admits he’s not the effusive kind of restaurateur who flits from table to table greeting his customers. Outside of welcoming his regular customers, he usually stays out of sight.
“In a high-end restaurant, the kitchen is at the very back. We never see the customer. I mostly stay in the kitchen. I’m not a show-off guy. I’m shy.”
His best-selling dishes? Tuna tataki, Tojo tuna, and smoked sablefish marinated in miso. He serves authentic rolls: traditional sushi with the seaweed on the outside to those who ask for it. Omakase, which is essentially the chef’s surprise, is ordered by 60 per cent of Tojo’s diners.
When asked what drives him, Tojo takes me back to 1972 and his eureka moment.
“I came to Canada in 1971,” he says. “In 1972, a flight attendant came into Maneki and said Tojo, would you like to go to a three-star French restaurant? My salary was $360 a month. We went to the restaurant. I paid $350 for that meal. Expensive, yes? Why do people pay more at a French restaurant? That’s the level I wanted for my Japanese restaurant. I wanted to elevate Japanese food to the same level as French or Italian cooking. That was my challenge.”
Decades later, mission accomplished. Tojo’s has become the gold standard for Japanese dining, a landmark for fine diners, visiting executives, royalty and celebrities. Guns N’ Roses, the cast of Baywatch, the Dutch king and queen, the emperor and empress of Japan and a myriad of performers passing through Hollywood North have all sat at his tables and, in the process, Tojo has become a bit of a celebrity himself. He’s appeared on numerous cooking contests such as Glutton for Punishment, Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and the Martha Stewart Cooking Show. He cooked for Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2016 and the year before that served as the resident chef aboard Adventure Canada’s cruise ship Ocean Endeavour as it plied the Arctic Ocean. And yes, the dishes centred around Arctic Char, Greenland shrimps, seaweed and kelp.
He’s been recognized by the Zagat Survey, the Wall Street Journal and perpetually wins local magazine surveys as a Vancouver favourite. In 2006, Tojo was inducted into the British Columbia Restaurants Hall of Fame. While he appreciates the awards – and there are many – he says the real purpose of being recognized by his peers is to inspire others and show younger chefs what can be accomplished.
As for the future, his wife says he should retire, and Tojo says he will comply, at least a little bit.
“I’m looking for a soft landing,” he continues. “Right now, I’m working 100 per cent. In five years, maybe I’ll work 50 per cent or 40 per cent but, in an emergency, I’m there. My nephew is interested in taking over. I’m giving him more power, but he needs more study in cooking and in management.”
Travel is also in the cards. He says he’d like to see his friends and travel the world. A Buddhist monastery in Japan has issued an open invitation. The monks are vegan.
“They said, please come. I’m very interested. I’m very open. My food is very open. Some people say, Tojo, I don’t like Mexican food. I don’t like Indian food. I say, no. If any kind of food is prepared properly, it should taste good. Anything.”
“I’m happy I chose to be a chef,” he says. “I’m not looking for money. I’m looking for new food, new creations. It keeps me young and interesting. Just counting money? That’s boring. If I went back to Japan or to New York, I’d have the chance to make big money, but I know a lot of rich people and some of them are not happy. I love cooking. I like to see my regular customers every week and that is my life. I’m very lucky.”
SPOTLIGHT
If you were to meet your 20-year-old self, what advice would you give him?
“Believe in yourself. Now I like cooking but there was a time I wasn’t so sure. When I was at the ryotei, this customer said, ‘could you make me egg-custard soup?’ I knew how, so I cooked it. The customer said, ‘excellent.’ I was only 20 years old, but it made me very confident.”
Who or what has influenced you the most and why?
“The Japanese author Yasushi Inoue influenced me the most when I was in my early twenties. His book Kaseki, a novel exploring death and the meaning of life especially moved me and inspired me to jump at opportunities and confront challenges, including moving to Canada.”
What does courage mean to you?
“Taking a chance. If I open a restaurant, I must be a businessman, even if I don’t want to. When I open the door, I must be working hard.”
What does success mean to you?
“Success means repeat customers. Customers are happy; employees are happy. I’m very comfortable. I’m not poor. I’m not super rich but I enjoy my work. I enjoy my quality of life.”
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