We caught up with the brilliant and insightful David Yoshimura a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

David, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, let’s take a stroll on memory lane, back to when you were an apprentice or intern. What’s a memorable story from that time that you can share with us?

I was lucky enough to apprentice many times in Japan at several restaurants, one being Kagurazaka Ishikawa (3 star Michelin located in Tokyo). The team at Ishikawa is very strong, loyal and hard working. They all shave their heads to show their commitment to the restaurant and operate with the guest as their top priority. I devoted a lot of time to this restaurant, but I was never paid. To show their appreciation for my time, the ENTIRE restaurant group arranged a sit down dinner and drinking party for me on my last day. A lot chefs stood up and thanked me for my time and wished me luck on my future endeavors. The entire experience made a huge impact on me and taught me the lesson of gratitude towards everyone: guest, intern, coworker, or simply another human being. In the business of hospitality, the lesson of gratitude for our guests, our farmers, and our product must be shown every day. This feeling flows through to each guest, something I sincerely believe.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is David Yoshimura, I am the Chef & Owner of Nisei – a one Michelin star Japanese American restaurant based in San Francisco. Nisei translates to second generation Japanese person, born outside of Japan and the cuisine and experience at Nisei reflect this sentiment. At Nisei we offer a 17 course menu, providing the pinnacle of California ingredients with Japanese technique. We offer a wine pairing or a premium sake pairing. Next to Nisei I own our sister bar, Iris, which provides Japanese inspired cocktails and Izakaya bites.

I have been cooking my entire life, starting as a dishwasher, to prep cook, to culinary school, and eventually fine dining. I’ve used a collection of my experiences to build and curate Nisei for my guests. I am most proud of the team & culture I have built at Nisei. I am very fortunate to work with young professionals who truly believe in my vision and the improvement of our restaurant. The team pushes very hard, every day towards higher accolades and meets challenges head on. Every day I try to foster an environment of respect and teamwork, something I learned during my time in Japan. With a strong team in a Michelin star restaurant, you truly can reach any goal you set your mind on.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2019, I came into partnership with an investor who planned to open a restaurant with me set for March of 2020. We all know what happened that year, and shortly after that month, the investor backed out, leaving me to start from square 1 on my Chef Owner journey. With no job and no money, I made the commitment to not give up on my dream and continue pushing. Quickly, I convinced another Chef to let me use his upstairs kitchen during the pandemic to keep my pop-up restaurant alive. I hired a handful of loyal friends and together we pushed out a 5 day a week bento box business a long with a once a week tasting menu we held outside. The pop-up business did so well, I was able to not only pay for myself and my friends, but I was able to save money towards my future brick and mortar restaurant.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When I was in my early 20’s, I cut my teeth in some intense New York City kitchens and brought this cut throat to work ethic to San Francisco when I moved here in 2015. When I began working in kitchens in California, I quickly realized that my rude New York attitude would not fly with other coworkers. On several occasions, my boss and coworkers would pull me aside and express that I needed to work on my compassion with coworkers and offer a softer touch when it came to management. I realized it was essential to differentiate between the two management styles, and find a path in between which I use today. I believe that management changes on a person to person basis and try to practice compassion when dealing with employees.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.restaurantnisei.com
• Instagram: @nisei_sf

Image Credits
@trox_photos, @_mediumraw