Lessons of a Sushi Chef

When a restaurateur is faced with a serious sushi chef shortage...what next? Open up a sushi school? Um...yes.

And in September, master sushi chef Katsuya Uechi of the Katsuya restaurant empire will team up with the president of Japanese food importer Mutual Trading Co. to launch a professional sushi school in downtown Los Angeles.

Uechi is chef-owner of Sushi Katsu-Ya in Studio City and Encino and executive chef of SBE Entertainment Group's growing chain of Philippe Starck-designed Katsuya restaurants -- there are three in the L.A. area and more are slated for Miami (in 2009) and Las Vegas (in 2010). By opening a sushi school, Uechi says he hopes to address a shrinking pool of professional sushi chefs in the U.S. (Other Los Angeles sushi schools include the 10-year-old California Sushi Academy and the Sushi Chef Institute, founded in 2002.)

In any case, pass the Wasabi... and read more here