ML - Michigan Avenue

2013 - Issue 4 - Summer

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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Sumi Robata Bar's tofu with caviar (BELOW) and grilled shishito peppers (RIGHT). heating things up FORMER JAPONAIS CHEF GENE KATO EMBRACES SIMPLICITY AT SUMI ROBATA BAR. BY J.P. ANDERSON C hef Gene Kato just wanted to cook. Having spent nine years as the executive chef/partner of 10,000-square-foot Chicago Avenue behemoth Japonais before leaving in early 2011, Kato found that he wasn't spending much time in the kitchen. "I did a lot of managing [at Japonais]," admits the 36-year-old Tokyo native. "My fire, what drives me, is cooking. That's my craft. So my responsibilities were making it very difficult to balance that. I wanted to come back to a place where I could cook for the customers." Kato certainly is cooking now—every night behind the custom glassenclosed grill at his buzzing new restaurant, Sumi, which is inspired by the centuries-old Japanese practice of robata grilling. After experimenting with the technique at Japonais and gala events like Chefs in the City, Kato was convinced that a robata restaurant could take off. "I thought, This will be a great new introduction for Japanese cuisine in Chicago," says the chef. And it has been, from the looks of the packed dining room, which was filled with a mix of neighborhood foodies and intrigued Kato fans on a recent Tuesday night. 72 The technique showcases sumi char- Sumi uses coal, which is harvested from a specific the ancient Japanese Asian hardwood tree, burns three times practice of hotter than traditional briquettes, and robata grilling, to which Mayor requires constant attention to preserve Rahm Emanuel the balance of the grill's heat. "We're has given his seal of approval. trying to give Chicago something that's authentic," says Kato, "so most of the dishes are very traditional." That means grilled items that are simply seasoned and cooked with precision, allowing the ingredients to shine: skewers of tender, rib-eye-like beef tongue; buttery scallops with ohba butter; hunks of garlicky, singed romaine; and—the menu's true revelation—fried chicken, crispy and nearly greaseless and served with shishito-pepper paste or as a breast or thigh on its own. Says Kato, "It's really light, but very flavorful at the same time." Other cold and hot menu highlights include the Ishi Yaki (marinated New continued on page 74 PHOTOGRAPHY BY GALDONES PHOTOGRAPHY (DISHES); NATHAN KIRKMAN (INTERIOR) THIS ISSUE: SUMMER SIZZLE MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 072-074_MA_Flavor_FlavorOfTheMonth_SUMMER13.indd 72 6/18/13 12:03 PM

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