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6 8 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t KEN TOMINAGA IS A BUSY MAN. In less than 48 hours, he is leaving for Boston to open the newest rendition of Pabu, an upscale Japanese izakaya restaurant concept he devel- oped with his partner, celebrated chef/restaurateur Michael Mina. Ken has been home for only three days from a trip to Honolulu where he met with potential partners for a new seafood restaurant concept. And while he was home, he squeezed in taking first place at the very competitive Cochon Heritage BBQ Festival cook-off in San Francisco. He just may be the most celebrated sushi chef on the West Coast that you've never heard of. Tominaga's spot in the culinary limelight was not an overnight occurrence. Twen- ty-six years ago, Ken opened a small sushi restaurant called Hana in Rohnert Park, a commuter town located about an hour north of San Francisco. Although Ken's focus was on high-quality sushi, he made sure there were plenty of cooked items on the menu, hoping to woo a local audience that was largely unfamiliar with raw fish. Over the years, Hana's reputation grew, not just among locals but with savvy diners and chefs who recognized Ken's brilliance with sushi. One of those fans was Michael Mina, who could be found at Hana almost every Sunday night, along with many other chefs who gladly took the night off from their kitchens to be in Ken's very capable hands. Born and raised in Tokyo, Ken worked in restaurants at a young age, but moved with his family to California in the 1980s, destined to run his father's optics engineer- ing business. His biggest break may have been his father selling the optics company in 1987, which allowed Ken to return to Japan for culinary school and follow his passion to create world-class sushi. "Every day I think of sushi, how I can make it better—even two percent better," says Ken. It's this kind of attention to detail that is a key to his success. He uses three different types of rice vinegars during the evening, one just for rinsing his hands. Ken also uses three different kinds of seaweed, depending on its application; for his takemaki he employs a fresh seaweed sourced directly from Japan that costs six times as much as California seaweed. "When you put that takemaki in your mouth, it's just gorgeous, that ocean flavor; I don't need to tell my customers that," confesses a very proud Tominaga. Japanese ingredients are important to Ken. He uses only two local fish suppliers that supply 85 to 90 percent of his fresh fish needs, all sourced from Japan. The fish is se- lected at Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market early in the morning, is on a plane by 9 a.m. and ar- rives at Hana less than 24 hours later. As loyal as Ken is to Japanese fish, he does admit a particular fondness for Copper River king salmon and Boston halibut. Interestingly, Ken's rice is also domestic, a Koshihikari style grown in California. For Chef Tominaga it's all about creating that perfect bite: "Y ou don't want the rice upstaging the fish, but I do want flavor and balance." As focused as he is on sushi, Ken has several passions. He consults for Saké Tengoku, an importer of high-quality, family-owned saké breweries, families that Ken has devel- oped personal relationships with over the years. But his other true love may be golf; Ken will spend 15 minutes explaining how one small change in his swing meant five extra strokes in his golf game. That small change in Ken's golf swing sounds like the same at- tention to detail that his sushi gets every day. CONCEPT CHEF Creating the Perfect Bite CATCHING UP WITH CELEBRATED SUSHI CHEF KEN TOMINAGA by Bob Bath, MS Chef Ken Tominaga of Hana in Northern California. The sushi master just opened an upscale Japanese izakaya res- taurant in Boston called Pabu, with his partner, celebrated chef/restaurateur Michael Mina. PHOTO: COURTESY OF KEN TOMINAGA ■cr "Every day I think of sushi, how I can make it bet- ter—even two percent better." d