Chef Katsuya Fukushima has spent the past year traveling across the country, delighting peoples' palates with his charming, playful, and highly personal style of cuisine. With recent guest chef appearances at Alex's Lemonade Stand-- the nation-wide culinary fundraiser in Philadelphia, Chef's Garden-- the acclaimed purveyor of specialty produce in Iowa, and Cornell University's top-ranked hospitality school, Fukushima has indeed been taking the nation by storm.
After a fifteen-year tenure with DC-based ThinkFoodGroup by Jose Andres, Chef Fukushima left TFG in the summer of 2010 to embark on a new chapter of his prestigious career. Since then, he has been racking up accolades at every stop: winning a recent episode of "Iron Chef America" in Manhattan, expanding a colleague's food truck business at Miami's latest Art Basel, and attracting huge crowds at the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival with his live demos.
Before beginning his whirlwind US tour, Fukushima served as one of Andrés' closest and most trusted collaborators. In addition to holding positions as Executive Chef of José Andrés Catering by Ridgewell's, Executive Chef for TFG's Special Projects, and Head Chef of Café Atlántico, Fukushima played instrumental roles in opening both the critically acclaimed minibar by josé andrés in Washington, DC, and the Bazaar by José Andrés in Los Angeles.
Fukushima has cooked for some of the world's most influential chefs-- such as Ferran Adria, Thomas Keller and David Bouley-- and worked alongside other culinary leaders including Andrés, founder of Nuevo Latino cooking Douglas Rodriguez, and Sergi Arola of La Broche in Madrid. Fukushima cooked with Rick Tramonto for TRU's 5th and 10th anniversaries, and is routinely invited to participate in culinary events, celebrations, and assemblies across the U.S.A. Worldwide, he has made appearances at Lo Mejor de la Gastronomia, Spain's 10, and other international professional conferences.
In 2006, Fukushima presented at Madrid Fusion with noted food science expert Harold McGee. That same year, he was named Rising Star by StarChefs. He has also been nominated several times as Rising Star by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington.
Fukushima has been featured in a variety of media outlets including the Washington Post, Washingtonian, Wine Spectator, Food Arts, the Kojo Nnamdi Show, and several episodes of the "Fretz Kitchen". Smithsonian Resident Associates highlighted Fukushima various times in their popular "Meet the Chef" series. Alongisde Andrés, Fukushima appeared in episodes of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations", "Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie", and "Iron Chef America".
Fukushima received his formal culinary training at L'Academie de Cuisine. Before deciding on a career in the kitchen, Fukushima attended the University of Maryland and graduated with degrees in mathematics and art.
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